university  or . 


BOOK  392.6.x  1U  V.  1  -2  c.  1 

X  OR  JACOBUS  PSEUD  #  UNTRODDEN 

FIELDS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY 


0D12337T 


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UNTRODDEN  FIELDS 


OP 


ANTHROPOLOGY 


filature  undersinntls  no  jesting;  she  is  alicags  Irue,  aluiags 
serious,  altoags  seoere;  she  is  alicags  right,  anil  the  errors  aiut  faults 
are  aluiags  those  of  man.  jhim,  mho  is  incapable  of  appre- 
tiating  her,  she  despises,  and  onig  to  the  apt,  the  pure  and  the 
true,  does  she  resign  herself  and  rcural  her  srtrets. 

Goethe. 

||he  meb  of  our  life  is  of  a  mingled  gnrn,  good  and  ill  together; 
our  cirtues  ujonld  be  proud  if  our  faults  shipped  them  not,  and  our 
crimes  ujonld  despair  if  thcg  icere  not  cherished  bu  our  cirtucs. 

Shakespeare,  [All's  Well,  IV,  3.) 


3)r,     iTacotu^S       A  ps^^d-' 


Documents  on  Medical  Anthropology 


OBSERVATIONS  ON  THE  ESOTERIC 

Manners  and  Customs  of  Semi-Civilized  Peoples; 

BEINQ   A 

RECORD  OF  THIRTY  YEARS'  EXPERIENCE  IN 

ASIA,    AFRICA,    AMERICA 
and   OCEANIA. 

By  a  French  Army-Suroeon. 


(IN  TWO  VOLUMES) 
Vol.  I 


j>^ 


■a^ 


\j^ 


Privately  Re-issued 

AMERICAN  ANTHROPOLOGICAL  SOCIETY 

New  York 


\ 


THE  EDITOR'S  FOKEWORD 


\ 


ndvTcc  Ka^agcc  roTg  y.cc{jaQOig. 

Periculosuin  est  credere  et  non  credere; 
Ergo  exploranda  est  Veritas  multum  prius 
Quain  stulta  prave  judicet  sententia. 

PlIAKD.  3,   10. 


THE  EDITOR'S  FOREWORD. 


When  the  first  edition  of  this  little  book  appeared  we 
had  no  idea  that  it  would  excite  so  many  different  com- 
ments and  various  conflicting  criticisms.  From  all  parts 
of  the  world,  men  whose  opinion  is  worth  caring  for, 
wrote  and  thanked  us  for  the  step  we  had  taken,  saying 
that  such  a  work  supplied  a  distinct  want.  The  "  little 
cloud  out  of  the  sea  no  bigger  than  a  man's  hand  "  grew 
to  a  size  beyond  our  hopes,  and  our  edition  strictly  limited 
to  500  copies,  rapidly  ran  out.  The  "  note "  however 
most  generally  harped  upon  by  our  kind  correspondents 
was  that  concerning  the  absence  of  references  to  the 
authorities  cited  here  and  there  in  the  two  volumes.  It 
was  pointed  out  that  while  there  could  be  no  doubt  as 
to  the  authenticity  of  the  names  quoted,  yet  many  students 
and  scholars  preferred,  when  possible,  to  turn  up  and  con- 
sult the  original  works  and  documents  for  themselves.  We 
have  therefore  supplied  this  deficiency ;  our  only  fear  now, 
is  that  we  may  perchance  have  overstepped  the  mark,  and 
gone  to  the  other  extreme.  Our  aim  has  been  to  be  use- 
ful and  experts  alone  can  judge  whether  we  have 
succeeded.     It   is   not   for   us   to    sound  our  own  praises. 

In  announcing  the  first  edition  of  this  work  we 
issued  a  little  leaflet  which  later  gave  rise  to  more  than 
one   misunderstanding,   many  people  supposing  it  to  be  a 


X  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OP    ANTHROPOLOGY 

different  work  entirely  apart  from  *  Untrodden  Fields  of 
Anthropology." 

The  leaflet  in  question  was  headed  as  under,  the  dif- 
ference of  the  title  no  doubt  being  the  cause  of  the  mischief: 

"REMARKABLE  STUDY 

OF    THE 

♦SIXTH  SENSE' (1) 

And  its  Strange  and  Curious  Manifestations  and  Aberrations 

among  Barbarous  Races.     New  and  original  work  in 

English,  issued  to  Private  Subscribers  only." 

We  then  followed  with  an  English  translation  of  the 
Author's  Preface  to  the  French  Edition  and  we  think 
it  will  not  be  out  of  place  to  reproduce  textually  here 
the  weighty  words  of  the  French  Traveller.  Some  incon- 
siderate persons,  on  the  principle  of  "  giving  a  dog  a  bad 
name  and  hanging  him  at  once,"  have,  on  the  mere  fact 
that  the  book  issued  from  Paris,  imagined,  without  exam- 
ination, that  our  work  was  of  an  improper  character.  We 
appeal  to  the  judgment  of  sensible  men  whether  the  fol- 
lowing words  are  those  of  a  writer  of  indecent  literature ; 
and  we  have  no  fear  of  their  verdict.-  He  says:  — 


(1)  We  are  far  from  beings  the  first  to  use  this  phrase.  JacoUiot 
says  *  The  most  ancient  traditions  of  India,  the  cradle  of  Humanity 
and  of  Eeligions,  mention  and  admit  a  sixth  sense.  To  man, 
Brahma  gave  five  organs,— Touch,  Sight,  Smell,  Taste,  Hearing  and 
a  sixth,  admitted  by  all  Indian  philosophers  and  called  "Mamas", 
which  is  the  agent  of  the  union  of  the  sexes.— The  Sankhyan  phi- 
losophy defines  it  as  follows:— 'An  organ  by  affinity,  participating 
in  the  qualities  of  the  others,  and  which  serves  at  once  for  sensation 
and  action."  L.  Jacolliot,  *  La  Bible  dans  I'lndc,  Vie  de  Jezeus 
Christna"  (Paris,  1876). 


editor's  foreword  XI 

*  I  have  passed  twenty-eight  years  of  my  life  amongst  diverse 
races,  in  all  the  five  great  divisions  of  the  World.  By  giving  my 
professional  services  to  the  natives  of  each  place  I  visited,  and  by 
studying  their  language,  I  wsls  able  to  gain  their  confidence,  and 
learn  much  about  their  customs,  manner  of  living,  habits,  etc. 
Having  made  diseases  of  the  genito-urinary  organ  my  speciality,  I 
was  often  consulted  in  these  cases,  and  therefore  collected  much 
valuable  information; 

I  was  not  merely  satisfied  with  observing  the  effect  of  the  human 
passions,  but  it  appeared  to  me  indispensable  to  trace  these  passions 
back  to  their  moral  causes,  and  make  a  psychological  study  of  those 
causes. 

Whilst  following  in  foreign  countries  the  path  of  science  which 
has  been  already  traced  by  that  eminent  authority,  Tardieu,  I  have 
avoided  trenching  on  the  ground  covered  by  his  remarkable  Medico- 
Legal  Study  of  Offences  against  Morals.  I  have  chosen  a  wider 
field  for  my  enquiries.  Like  Moreau  (of  Tours),  I  believe  in  a  sixth 
sense,  the  Genital  Sense,  the  existence  of  which  he  has  psychologic- 
ally proved,  by  showing  that  its  special  functions  were  distinct 
from  those  of  the  other  senses.  It  is  the  philosophical  and  medical 
study  of  this  sixth  sense  that  I  had  in  view  in  compiling  this  work  ; 
and  also  an  examination  of  those  changes  and  irregularities  which 
this  sense  undergoes,  not  only  under  the  influence  of  temperament 
and  constitution  in  the  various  races,  but  from  manners,  customs, 
and  religious  superstitions. 

This  is  not  an  obscene  work,  but  a  psychological  sketch  of  the 
history  of  the  sexual  passions  of  the  human  race;— a  stone  towards 
the  building  of  a  vast  edifice  which,  as  yet,  is  hardly  commenced. 
And  besides  the  medico-legal  view  of  the  question,  I  have  made  a 
thorough  research  into,  and  philosophical  examination  of,  the  original 
causes. 

I  have  seen  nearly  all  that  I  here  relate,  and  have  never  hesitated 
to  tell  what  I  believed  to  be  the  truth.  That  which  I  have  not  seen 
I  have  derived  from  eye-witnesses  who  were  worthy  of  credit.  I 
have  probed  the  depths  of  the  human  hearts  of  my  patients,  and 
too  often  found  them  cankered,  and — conscious  of  my  honest  inten- 
tions—I have  illuminated  them  with  the  torch  of  Philosophy.  Wliat 
I  say  may  be  believed. 

I  have  written  for  a  small  number  of  studious,  thinking  people, 
seekers  after  the  immutable  truth,  which  is  here  presented  to  thena 


XII  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS    OF    ANTHROPOLOGY 

unveiled, — stripped  of  the  rags  of  conventionality.  I  have  thus  been 
able  to  boldly  reveal  that  which  it  would  have  been  impossible  to 
write  in  an  ordinary  book  of  travels,  which  might,  and  ought  to  be, 
put  into  the  hands  of  anyone. 

Moreover,  I  have  sought,  and  I  believe  I  have  succeeded  (by  a 
careful  use  of  medical  terms),  in  making  my  meaning  clear  without 
overstepping  the  bounds  of  decency." 

Our  work  as  far  as  we  are  aware,  is  absolutely  unique 
in  its  kind.  Of  course,  many  little  pamphlets  have  been 
written,  with  imposing  titles  but  which  were  undocu- 
mented, and  lacking  entirely  in  scientific  value.  To  judge 
for  example,  from  the  following  array  of  words  one  would 
be  led  to  think  that  an  important  treatise  was  forth- 
coming'. We  give  the  full  title  of  this  worthless  produc- 
tion only  as  representative  of  many  others  of  its  class, 
equally  misleading: 

MOEURS  ORIENTALES. 

LES    HUIS-CLOS    I)E    L'ETHNOGEAPHIE. 

DE    LA    CIECONCISION    DES   FILLES— VIRGINITE— INFIBULATION  — 
GENERATION —EUNUQUE3  —  SKOPZIS  —  CADENAS  —  CEINTURE8, 

PAR 

E.    I  L  E  X 

LONDRES 

Imprimerie  particuliere  de  la  Societe  d' Anthropologic 
et  d" Ethnologic  comparees. 

MDCCCLX.XVIII 

It  is  needless  to  say  this  fumisterie  was  no  more  printed 
in  London  for  any  "  Anthropological  Society "  than  it  was 
printed  in  the  Moon  for  a  Society  of  Escaped  Lunatics. 
Apart  from  a  few  stupid  illustrations,  wretchedly  done, 
and   all  very  much  alike,  there  was  no  reason  to  conceal 


EDITOR  S    FOREWORD  XIII 

its  place  of  origin,  unless  it  was  supposed  that  in  sur- 
rounding the  farce  with  an  air  of  mystery,  the  gudgeons 
would  be  better  attracted. 

Our  aim  in  "  Untrodden  Fields "  has  been  precisely  the 
same  as  that  had  in  view  by  Sir  Richard  F.  Burton,  who 
was  not  afraid  to  illustrate  his  books  on  Travels  and 
Voyages,  with  facts  and  observations  of  real  anthropo- 
logical value.  We  cannot  do  better  than  allow  Sir  Richard 
to  speak  in  his  own  words ;  the  extract  is  from  his  inter- 
esting "  Foreword "  to  the  original  Benares  edition  of 
"  The  Thousand  Nights  and  a  Night " : 

*  These  volumes  afford  me  a  long-sought  opportunity  of  noticing 
practices  and  customs  which  interest  all  mankind  and  which  "  Society " 
will  not  hear  mentioned. 

"  Grote,  the  historian,  and  Thackeray,  the  novelist,  both  lamented 
that  the  begueulerie  of  their  countrymen  condemned  them  to  keep 
silence  where  publicity  was  required;  and  that  they  could  not  even 
claim  the  partial  licence  of  a  Fielding  and  a  Sraollet.  Hence  a 
score  of  years  ago  I  lent  my  best  help  to  the  late  Dr.  James  Hunt 
in  founding  the  Anthropological  Society,  whose  presidential  chair  1 
first  occupied  (pp.  2-4  Anthropologia.  London,  Bailliere  vol.  I., 
No.  I,  1873). 

"  My  motive  was  to  supply  travellers  with  an  organ  which  would 
rescue  their  observations  from  the  outer  darkness  of  manuscript,  and 
yrint  their  curious  information  on  social  and  sexual  matters  out  of 
place  in  the  popular  book  intended  for  the  Nipptiscb,  and  indeed 
better  kept  from  public  view. 

'But  hardly  had  we  begun  when  'Respectability',  that  whited 
sepulchre  full  of  all  uncleanness,  rose  up  against  us.  'Propriety' 
cried  us  down  with  her  brazen  blatant  voice,  and  the  weak-kneed 
brethren  fell  away.  Yet  the  organ  was  much  ^l•anted,  and  is  wanted 
still.'     Be.vares  (original)  Edition  pp.  xviii  to  xix. 

We  printed  these  lines  in  a  small  leaflet  and  sent  it 
to  most  of  the  subscribers  to  the  book  with  the  following 
remarks : 

"  Mr.  Charles  Carrington's  object  is  precisely  the  same  in  '  Un- 
trodden  Fields    of   Anthropology',    and   all    observations  his  Corre- 


XIV  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF    ANTHROPOLOGY 

spondents  care,  in  the  interests  of  Anthropology,  to  send  him,  will 
either  be  incorporated  in  a  new  and  enlarged  edition  of  the  above- 
named  work,  or  if  of  sufficient  bulk  and  length,  will  be  published 
separately  under  the  title  of  "  Anthropologia". 

To  these  lines  we  added  the  undermentioned  notice : 

"  CRITICISMS  AND  OBSERVATIONS  INVITED  " 

*  Medical,  scientific,  and  literary  men,  and  Travellers,  especially 
those  who  reside  Abroad  and  in  the  Colonies,  who  have  read 
'  Untrodden  Fields  of  Anthropology',  are  respectfully  and  earnestly 
invited  to  contribute  their  Criticisms,  whether  favourable  or  other- 
wise to  Mr.  Charles  Carrington,  13,  Faubourg  Montmartre,  Paris, 
with  a  view  to  an  enlarged  and  revised  Edition  of  this  work. 

Of  course,  it  is  unnecessary  to  add  that  while  the  Editor  will  be 
pleased  to  publish  such  criticisms  over  the  name  of  the  contributor, 
he  is  also  prepared  to  reproduce  them,  if  of  sufficient  weight  and 
importance,  without  disclosure  of  name,  and  the  anonymity  would 
where  requested,  be  strictly  and  steadfastly  guarded." 

We  are  pleased  to  say  that  many  Doctors  and  scientific 
men  responded  to  this  appeal  for  co-operation  in  our  in- 
tellectual enterprise,  and  generously  sent  in  and  left 
entirely  at  our  disposal  a  collection  of  valuable  and 
curious  notes  and  observations  which  we  hope  one  day  to 
embody  in  a  new  work,  to  form  a  sequel  to  the  present 
one,  but  we  shall  first  have  to  arrange  them  in  systematic 
order. 

Some  of  these  notes  however,  have  been  incorporated 
in  the  present  edition. 

The  late  Dr.  Ploss  the  learned  Author  of  Das  Weib 
in  der  Natur  und  Volkerkunde  was  fully  alive  to  the 
importance  of  the  study  of  the  organs  of  generation  of 
both  sexes  as  comparative  points  of  radical  differences, 
and  agrees  with  us  that  this  entrancing  subject  so  vital 
in  its  results,  is  not  sufficiently  studied  in  its  details,  by 
the  professional  Anthropologist.  We  prefer  to  give  his 
own  words : — 


editor's   foreword  XV 

"5)ie  5(iitf)vopo(ogcn  (jabcn  [it^  mit  grofjem  Sifcr  mit  ben 
^i-aniologiidjcn  unb  ben  'i|3f)i)i'lognomi[cI)cn  gigcntljumlicljfeitcn  beu 
9)Jpnfd)cnvn[fcn  bcfrfjciftigt.  9l((em  bcr  ^opf  unb  baS  ©cfidjt  bictcn 
mcUeit^t  nid)t  Oebcutenbevc  (gtfjnogvapfjijdje  33ci-g(cic^ung§puntte  bar, 
n(8  luiv  fic  bei  ben  iucib(id)cn  ®efc^(ed)t8t()ei(en  mit  Qllem  \va^  baju 
gcljovt  ju  fiuben  tieumogen.  Wan  ()at  iiber  bie  Sefonbcr^eitcn  im 
53au  bcr  au^eren  Se^-uatorganc  nur  bci  einjetncn  33o(fcrft^aften 
genaucrc  9?ad)foi[d)ungcn  angeftcllt;  benn  c8  ift  cben  fc^racr,  einc 
genitgenbc  3af)(  oon  Obiettcn  ju  befommcn  unb  clner  33etrad)tung, 
ober  gar  einer  gcnaucn  SD^e^ung  ju  untcrracrfen.  jDie  ^Int^ropo* 
logifdje  23cbeutun9  ber  ^ad]t  tocrbient  c8  aber,  bafj  mx  ha9 
^Jlakmi,  fo  Jveit  c«  fdjon  boi^anbcn  ift,  an  bicfer  ©telle  jufammcn 
bringen."  (1) 

C  Das  Weib  \  Vol  I,  page  133.) 

What  is  Anthropology?  What  are  its  aims  and  objects? 
Has  it  any  practical  and  beneficial  bearing  on  daily  life? 
These  are  undoubtedly  tlie  questions  that  will  occur  to 
a  thinking  man  whose  attention  is  directed  to  this  matter. 
The  field  of  Anthropology  is  very  wide— one  may  say 
without  exaggeration — as  wide  as  the  world  of  man  is 
wide— for  it  concerns  and  embraces  man  in  all  the  various 
branches  and  ramifications  of  his  life.  Its  subject  and 
object  is  at  once  Humanity.     The  reader  will  pardon  us 


(1)  We  subjoin  a  translation  of  this  passage: — 

"  Anthropologists  have  very  busily  occupied  themselves  v?ith  the 
craniological  and  physiognomical  i)eculiarities  of  the  human  races. 
But  the  head  and  the  face  do  not  perhaps  present  more  important 
ethnographic  points  of  comparison  than  we  can  find  in  the  female 
sexual  organs,  with  all  pertaining  thereto.  It  is  only  among  a  few 
races  that  exact  studies  have  been  undertaken  of  the  peculiarities  in 
the  structure  of  the  exterior  sexual  organs,  for  it  is  indeed  difficult 
to  obtain  a  sufficient  number  of  subjects  willing  to  submit  to  be 
examined,  and  still  less  so,  to  be  measured.  Nevertheless  the 
anthropological  importance  of  the  matter  deserves  that  we  should 
here  bring  together  as  much  of  the  material  as  already  exist?." 


XYI  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY 

for  quoting  a  few  lines  here  from  the  short  *  Preface "  to 
the  first  edition:  — 

"  Hackneyed  as  the  quotation  is,  that  "  there  are  more  things  jn 
Heaven  and  Earth  than  are  dreamt  of  in  our  philosophy  ",  the 
appearance  of  this  book  will  but  give  it  fresh  point  and  force. 

Anthropology  is  a  name  for  all  that  relates  to  Man  in  general; 
his  Vices  and  Virtues,  Loves  and  Longings,  Hates  and  Failings, 
Passions  and  Peculiarities.  The  subject,  as  yet,  is  only  in  its  Infancy. 
Able  and  brilliant  writers  have,  however,  dealt  with  phases  of  it  in 
a  style  that  defies  competition.  Edward  Tylor  in  "Primitive 
Culture  "  has  analysed  Man's  Dream-life  and  traced  the  Evolution 
of  the  Gods  from  their  birth  in  the  agonies  of  Fear  and  Hope 
down  to  the  present  stage  of  what  Cotter  Morrison  has  cleverly 
termed  the  "  deanthropomorphisation  of  the  god-idea " ;  Darwin  in 
his  famous  '  Descent  "  has  traced  his  Evolution  from  the  proto- 
plasmic, formless  mass  of  pre-historic  periods;  while  Lubbock, 
Clodd,  and  a  host  of  others  have  envisaged  him  from  various  inter- 
esting standpoints,  but  no  writer  save,  perhaps  the  German,  Ploss, 
has  yet  handled  the  esoteric  phases  of  barbarous  life  as  the  Author 
of  these  fascinating  pages.  That  "  truth  is  stranger  than  fiction  " 
is  borne  home  upon  the  reader's  mind  with  repeated  impressiveness. 
The  Crimes  and  Loves,  Vices,  Virtues  and  Indecencies  of  Savage 
and  Barbarous  Life,  are  painted  by  a  master's  hand  on  a  strong 
canvas  of  facts  drawn  from  personal  observation  and  native  chron- 
icles—those naive  accounts  which,  without  embarrassment,  *  call 
A  spade  a  spade". 

Auguste  Comte  was  not  blind  to  the  proper  province  of 
our  study,  he  says:  — 

"  Perhaps  Sociology  may  be  easily  looked  on  as  absorbing 
into  itself  Biology  as  its  introduction,  Morals  as  its  con- 
clusion. When  the  word  Anthropology  shall  be  in  more 
common  and  sounder  use,  it  will  be  a  better  name  for 
the  three  sciences  which  collectively  have  man  as  their 
object,  as  its  literal  meaning  is  '  The  Study  of  Man  ! ' " 

The  pursuit  of  this  science  in  the  past  has  been  too  much 
dwarfed    and   confined.     The  President   of  the  Anthropo- 


EDITOR  S    FOREWORD  XVII 

logical  Department  of  the  British  Association  at  Brighton, 
(1872),  used  these  words:— 

"  As  to  the  myths^  religions^  superstitions  and  languages 
with  which  they  (the  material  relics  of  our  prehistoric 
ancestors)  were  associated^  ive  may  content  ourselves  hy 
devoutly  thanhing  Providence  that  they  have  not  been 
preserved."  (1) 

Needless  to  add  that  this  is  not  the  position  taken  by 
our  author.  It  would  be  an  insult  to  the  intelligence  of 
our  readers  to  ask  which  of  the  two  should  most  be 
valued — the  moral  and  social  ideas,  palpitating  with  the 
life-blood  of  the  past — or  the  flint  weapons  and  skeleton 
outlines  of  the  prehistoric  man.  Let  there  be  no  mis- 
understanding here.  We  recognise  well  enough  the  value 
of  flint  implements  and  other  discoveries  as  proving  man's 
age  upon  the  earth,  (2)  but  we  contend  that  fuller  justice 
should  be  shown  to  the  social  side  of  Anthropology. 
Mr.  Luke  0.  Pike  in  his  valuable  paper  on  the  "Methods 
of  Anthropological  Research  ",  sets  his  face  resolutely 
against  all  balderdash  of  this  sort.  His  words  are  worth 
quoting:— 

"It  is  impossible  to  lay  too  much  stress  on  the  fundamental 
doctrine,  that  all  Anthropology  has  for  its  end  the  good  of  the 
human  beings   of  the   present  and  the  human  beings  of  the  future. 

"  Anthropology  means  the  collection  of  facts,  not  for  the  sake  of 
the  facts  themselves,  but  for  the  value  of  the  laws  to  be  discovered 
in  them  for  the  sake  of  future  generations  to  be  benefited  by  them. 
It   means,   if  not   peace   on  earth,  at  least  goodwill  towards  men ; 


(1)  We  should  be  loth  to  believe  that  these  foolish  words  were 
authentic,  were  they  not  quoted  on  the  faith  of  Joseph  Kaines 
(Vide  "  Anthropologia,"  page  33.  London,  1873—5). 

(2)  We  bear  particularly  in  mind  the  use  this  side  of  the  subject 
has  been  in  combating  the  pernicious  doctrine  of  Man's  theological 
Fall  (Vide  vol.  1,  page  284,  of  Andrew  White's  *  Warfare  of  Science 
with  Theology'  Lond.  Macmillan,  1896). 


XVIII  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY 

and  it  would  mean  peace  on  earth  if  its  enemies  would  allow  it  to 
be  at  peace.  It  means  the  only  kind  of  philanthropy  which  can  he 
of  service  to  manlcind  philanthropy  founded  vpon  science.''  (1) 

We  claim  no  finality  for  the  work  now  issued.  Even 
in  its  present  enlarged  forms  it  is  offered  to  scientific 
students  with  much  "fear  and  trembling."  We  know  it 
is  incomplete,  while  conscious  of  our  inability  to  fill  up 
the  lacunae.  Let  it  be  regarded  as  a  pioneer  effort  rather 
than  as  a  finished  treatise,  bearing  in  mind  that  all  know- 
ledge is  relative.  Some  day  a  greater  man,  with  broader 
forehead  and  braver  mind  than  his  fellows  will  take  up 
tlie  work  where  our  Author  has  left  it  and  systematize 
his  facts  with  useful  results  to  mankind.  In  the  mean- 
time, we  are  guilty  of  no  blear-eyed  egotism  in  declaring 
that  our  book  is  ynique  in  its  kind,  and  occupies  a  place 
not  filled  by  any  other.  We  claim  that  it  fully  bears  out 
its   curious  French  title,  (2)   while   in  its  English  dress 


(1)  Quoted  in  (page  35)  "  Anthropologia,^  (already  cited). 

(2)  L'AMOUR 
AUX     COLONIES 

SINUULARITES 
PHYSIOLOGIQUES   ET   PAS310NNELLE3 

observdes  durant  trente  anndes  de  S(5jour  dans  les  Colonies  fran^aiscs 

Cochin-Chine,   Tonkin  et   CamhodQe — Guyane  et  Martinique — 

Senegal  et  Rivieres  du  Sud — Nouvelle  Caledonie, 

Nouvelles- Hebrides  et  Tahiti. 

PAR   LE    DOCTEUR   JaCOBUS    X  .  .  . 

ISIDORE  LISEUX 

Paris,  1893. 

[This  French  edition  beautifully  printed  by  Unsinger,   was  issued 

at   the    price   of  60  francs   in  one  vol.  of  396  pages  on  hand-made 

paper;   only   380   copies   were   printed,   and  we  believe   it  is  now 

somewhat  rare.] 


editor's   foreword  XIX 

it  is  supplemented  by  a  choice  variety  of  notes  and  facts 
which  considerably  enhance  its  value.  Isidore  Liseux,  the 
Editor  of  the  French  edition,  would  not  consent  to  add 
any  notes,  an  omission  the  reason  of  which  we  have  never 
been  able  to  understand.  A  work  of  the  present  kind  is 
valuable  only  in  proportion  to  the  documents  and  authorities 
cited  as  guarantee  for  its  statements.  We  have  given 
therefore  not  only  a  complete  and  unexpurgated  version 
of  the  original  text,  but  have  added  a  number  of  notes 
and  useful  appendices  that,  we  are  sure,  will  not  fail  to 
be  of  the  greatest  use  to  searchers  and  students.  We 
believe  in  fact,  that  our  work  will  have  to  be  counted 
with  whenever  a  writer  treats  of  these  subjects  in  the 
future.  At  the  end  of  the  second  volume  we  deal  briefly 
with  a  couple  of  foul  attacks — it  would  be  a  misuse  of 
words  to  call  them  criticisms— evidently  inspired  by  the 
lowest  malice  that  penny-a-liners  are  capable  of.  Save 
these  two  beautiful  Billingsgate  effusions,  penned  without 
doubt,  by  what  St.  Paul  would  have  termed  "  lewd  (minded) 
fellows  of  the  baser  sort,"  our  little  work  has  been  well 
and  cordially  received.  The  welcome  accorded  to  it  was 
due  above  all  to  the  stamp  of  truth  and  genuineness  to 
be  found  on  every  page.  Those  of  our  subscribers  who 
may  not  have  seen  the  prospectus  first  issued  will  be 
interested  to  read  the  following  points,  which  we  take 
leave  to  repeat  as  most  clearly  explanatory  of  our  position. 

The  Author's  weight. 

*  The  Author  was  a  French  army  surgeon,  and  in  that 
capacity  was  sent  by  his  Government  to  the  different 
Colonies  about  whose  people  he  treats.  The  book  is 
consequently  not  based  on  hearsay,  nor  on  learned  researches 
by  beslippered  Dryasdusts  in  long-forgotten  archives. 
As  a  French  officer  he  had  everywhere  access  to  the  best 


XX  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY 

society,  while  his  medical  duties  brought  him  into  contact 
with  the  lower  orders.  He  was  thus  enabled  to  study 
every  class  in  each  community  that  he  visited,  and  his 
observations  have  therefore  a  triple  value,  being  the  work 
of  an  acute  physician,  an  experienced  traveller,  and  a 
broad-minded  man-of-the-world. 

Depravity  of  Eflfete  Civilizations. 

Greater  interest  still  is  attached  to  the  book,  from  the 
fact  that  the  places  under  consideration  lie  in  out-of-the- 
way  corners  of  the  earth,  which  the  ordinary  "  globe-trotter " 
would  never  dream  of  visiting.  His  experiences  cover 
Thirty  long  years  in  Asia,  Africa,  America,  and 
Oceania;  and,  with  the  frankness  of  a  medical  student, 
he  carefully  and  without  fear,  examines  the  effete  civiliza- 
tions of  Annam,  Tonquin  and  Cambodia;  laying  open  as 
with  a  scalpel,  and  exposing,  the  vices  of  people  who 
have  brought  depravity  almost  up  to  the  level  of  a 
fine  art. 

Qnestions  and  Difficulties. 

Apart  from  curious  details  concerning  the  manners 
and  customs  of  almost  unknown  peoples  and  tribes, 
questions  are  raised  and  difficulties  solved,  which  must 
have  occurred  to  the  mind  of  every  thinking  man  and 
woman,  but,  which  hitherto  no  writer,  except  in  some 
purely  medical  work,  has  dared  to  treat  as  they  should 
be  treated,  and  the  result  is  a  book  which  is  a  distinctly 
valuable  addition  to  the  history  of  mankind. 

Esoteric  Physical  Peculiarities. 

In  Guiana  and  Martinique  his  position  as  a  French 
Medical  Officer  gave  him  an  introduction  to  the  best 
Creole  Society,  and  his  duties  as  a  surgeon  brought  him 
into  contact  with  the  negroes  and  half-breeds.  Esoteric 
physical  peculiarities,  that  would  escape  the  notice  of  an 


editor's   foreword  XXI 

ordinary  traveller,  who  had  not  received  a  medical  educa- 
tion, or  which  he  would  hardly  dare  to  describe,  find 
a  record  in  the  author's  voluminous  note-books,  whilst 
the  viveur  side  of  his  character  displays  itself  in  the 
account  of  the  amorous  nature  of  the  warm-blooded 
Quadroon  and  Octoroon  women. 

Refined  Sensuality  of  Society  Islanders. 

The  differences  between  the  Negro  in  the  West  Indies 
and  in  his  native  land,  are  exhibited  in  the  author's 
description  of  Senegal;  and  in  the  last  portion  of  the 
book,  the  reader  follows  with  ever-increasing  interest,  the 
history  of  the  degraded  savages  of  New-Caledonia  and 
the  New  Hebrides;  or  is  entranced  by  the  glowing 
picture — painted  as  only  French  writers  seem  to  know 
how— of  the  voluptuous  beauties  of  the  Society  Islands— 
the  last  remaining  spot  on  the  earth  in  which  refined 
sensuality,  akin  to  that  of  the  old  Greeks,  still  lingers. 
Of  the  esoteric  portions  of  the  book  it  would  be  impos- 
sible to  speak  in  a  prospectus  which  might  fall  into  the 
hands  of  women  and  children. 

Weapons  against  Social  Evils. 

The  work  is  divided  into  Two  Volumes,  each  of  some 
300  pages,  and  we  undertake  to  say  that  the  most 
indifferent  novel-reader  will  find  enough  to  sustain  his 
attention  from  the  first  page  to  the  last,  for  the  rest, 
suffice  it  to  say  that  the  title  of  "  Untrodden  Fields  of 
Anthropology"  seems  the  best  that  could  be  selected. 
The  anthropology,  as  we  have  hinted,  is  never  dull,  for 
the  author  has  had  the  happy  inspiration  to  deal— not 
with  dry  bones  or  cranial  conformations— but  with  those 
principles  which  ensure  the  continuity  of  the  races  he 
describes,    and   which   are   physically   matters  of  moment 


XXII  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS    OF    ANTHROPOLOGY 

to  US  who  dwell  in  more  civilized  climes.  Moreover,  by 
showing  us  the  causes  of  some  of  the  vices  which  prevail 
amongst  savage  and  semi-civilized  peoples,  he  furnishes 
us  with  valuable  weapons  wherewith  to  combat  those 
social  evils,  the  existence  of  which  amongst  us  is  so 
deplored  by  every  right-minded  man  and  woman." 

Our  "  foreword "  would  extend  considerably  beyond 
reasonable  limits  were  we  to  attempt  any  delineation  of 
the  Kise  and  Progress  of  Anthropological  Methods.  An 
account  of  these  must  be  sought  for  in  the  fascinating 
pages  of  Tylor,  (1)  Hunt,  (2)  Lubbock,  (3)  and  other  equally 
remarkable,  if  less  known,  writers  whose  contributions 
have  rendered  imperishable  service  to  the  multifarious 
History  of  Man.  But  we  should  be  wanting  in  fairness 
to  ourselves  if  we  omitted  to  say  a  word  in  conclusion 
on  what  may  be  termed  the  less  happy  side  of  "  Untrodden 
Fields  of  Anthropology ' ;  we  refer  of  course  to  the 
sketches  we  have  been  obliged  to  give  of  subjects  gener- 
ally "  tabooed "  except  in  medical  circles.  We  may  be 
allowed  here  to  quote  a  few  lines  written  by  us  with 
reference  to  a  previous  book  (4)  and  which  equally  apply 
to  the  present  work:  — 

In  reply  to  those  of  our  detractors  who  have  raised  an  outcry 
against  the  contents  of  this  book,  we  say  once  and  for  all  that  it 
is  not  meant  for  the  "  general  public "  but  for  a  select  few  of  private 
students,  amateurs,  and  medical  men  who  are  interested  in  the  strange 
and  fanciful  vagaries  of  wayward  Human  Nature. 

A  clever  modern  writer  well  says :  (5)  "  We  cannot  be  good  by 
pretending  not  to  know  evil.  When  women  go  mad,  the  most 
innocent,  the   youngest,   the   most  purely   educated    often   utter  the 


(1)  In  "Primitive  Culture". 

(2)  'Memoirs    of  the  Anthropological  Society  of  London,  (vol.  I). 

(3)  The  Origin  of  Civilization,  London,  1889. 

(4)  The  Secret  Cabinet  of  History  (Paris,  1897). 

(5)  Hain  Friswell  in  his  "  Essays  on  English  Writers  ". 


editor's   foreword  XXIII 

most  horriil  and  obscene  language;  a  proof  that  to  them  such  evil 
has  been  known;  how  acquired,  how  taught,  it  is  in  vain  to  ask. 
What  the  teacher  ought  to  seek,  is,  not  to  blot  out  and  veil  iniquity, 
since  that  will  always  be  visible,  but  to  make  the  heart  strong 
enough  to  cast  out  the  evil." 

For  the  rest,  we  call  to  mind  the  larger  freedom  of  discussion 
now  allowed  in  England  and  America,  when  conducted  from  the 
right  standpoint;  and  we  have  no  fear  as  to  the  result.  The  smug- 
faced,  hypocrite  and  canting  hirelings  of  (impure?)  "Purity  Societies  " 
may  take  to  heart  the  wise  and  witty  words  of  a  modern  French 
literator:  (1) — "La  pudibonderie,  si  amusante  et  si  gracieuse  chcz 
la  femme,  n'est  jamais  que  ridicule  chez  un  male;  elle  prend  meme 
un  autre  nom  quand  elle  atteintles  orudits.  J'en  appelle  aux  casuistes." 

The  sober-minded  student  will  scarcely  credit  that  so 
serious  a  writer  as  Lombroso  has  himself  had  to  complain 
of  this  Mock-Modesty  in  the  learned  world.  In  the  French 
edit,  of  his  book  on  the  "  Female  Criminal  and  the  Pros- 
titute "  (Paris,  Alcan,  1896),  the  Italian  scientist  passes 
the  following  strictures  on  the  expurgating  mania. 

"  We  shall  perhaps  be  reproached  for  having  dealt  in 
too  great  detail  with  certain  sexual  phenomena  which 
conventional  hypocrisy  pretends  entirely  to  conceal  from 
peoples'  eyes ;  but  far  better  not  to  publish  this  work  at  all 
than  to  suppress  these  facts  relating  to  the  sexual  life, 
the  female  criminal  would,  in  such  case,  no  longer  exist, 
and  less  still,  the  prostitute.  But,  in  the  English  versions 
these  facts  have  been  omitted  and  suppressed,  with  the 
result  that  in  its  castrated  form,  the  book  is  undoubtedly 
much  less  conclusive." 

Our  book,  as  we  have  fully  evidenced,  is  written  in  a 
temperate  and  scientific  spirit.     It  is  moreover,  not  intended 


(1)  Octave  XJzanne,  Le  Livre,  Mars  1884,  p.  138:—  "  Bashfulness,  so 
entertaining  and  graceful  in  a  woman,  is  never  anything  but  ridicu- 
lous when  found  in  a  man;  it  calls  even  for  anotlier  name  when  it 
lays  hold  of  the  learned.  I  call  the  casuists  to  witness  to  the 
truth  of  this." 


XXIY  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY 

for  general  circulation.  An  obscene  work  is  one  that  is 
designed  to  stir  up  voluptuous  passions  where  such  pas- 
sions would  not  otherwise  exist.  But  the  present  work 
couched  as  far  as  possible  in  technicis  terminis  can  have 
no  such  effect,  being  the  mere  recital  of  certain  customs 
of  barbarous  and  savage  peoples,  not  dealt  with  except  in 
widely  scattered  works,  very  difficult  of  access  even  to 
the  leisured  and  wealthy  scholar.  That  the  present  treatise 
is  far  removed  from  a  pornographic  basis  is  proved  by 
the  fact  that  many  persons  who  wrote  us  for  the  first 
edition,  expressed  afterwards  their  disappointment,  as  they 
found  the  terminology  employed  too  recondite  for  their 
hydrocephalic  intelligence,  and  had  evidently  expected  to 
receive  something  of  a  very  different  stamp.  Dr.  Schrenck- 
Notzing  (of  Munich)  points  out: — "that  the  injury  done 
by  implanting  knowledge  of  sexual  pathology  in  unquali- 
fied persons  is  not  to  be  compared  with  the  good  accom- 
plished. For  the  physician  himself,  sexual  anomalies, 
treated  as  they  are  in  a  distinct  manner  in  text  books 
on  psychiatry,  are  in  greater  part  a  terra  incognita."  (1) 
Many  eminent  men  in  the  past,  famous  alike  for  their 
sturdy  thinking  and  philosophical  acumen,  have  not  con- 
sidered such  subjects  as  those  discussed  in  this  book, 
beneath  their  notice ;  among  such  we  may  mention  curious 
old  Dr.  Schurigius,  EtmuUer,  Flemming,  Paullini,  Beck- 
herius,  Rosinus,  Lentilius ;  and  lastly  brave  Levinus  Lem- 
nius.  (2)  Of  course,  "  there  are  people "  as  Adhle  Esquiros 
cleverly  says  :  (3)  — 

"  Who  if  it  were  given  them  to  dissect  a  corpse,  would 

(1)  Die  Suggestions-Therapie,  etc.,  F.  Enke,  Stuttgart,   1892. 

(2)  All  of  these  are  mentioned  in  Scatalogic  Bites  by  Capt.  John 
G.  Bourke,  (Washington,  1891),  in  itself  a  wonderful  piece  of 
contempt  of  public  opinion. 

(3)  "  Les  Marchandes  d' Amour",  (pag.  189). 


editor's   foreword  XXV 


only  see  one  thing,  that  it  was  naked.  Minds  like  these 
are  so  unclean  that  they  thereby  become  stupid,  or  are 
they  stupid  because  they  are  so  unclean?  From  a  book, 
however  bad  it  may  be  (someone  has  said)  there  is 
always  something  good  to  be  gained.  Take  any  impure 
thing,  say  a  body  already  in  the  stage  of  putrefaction,  and 
give  it  to  the  anatomist,  he  will  not  start  back  in  horror, 
for  science  becomes  beautiful  in  proportion  as  she  is  useful. 

"  I  take  this  mass  of  impurity  and  subject  it  to  observa- 
tion in  the  crucible  of  analysis,  separating  its  different 
principles  and  using  the  knowledge  won  from  the  lifeless 
clay  for  the  benefit  of  living  man. 

"  Cannot  we  create  also  an  intellectual  chemistry,  seek 
how  the  originally  pure  elements  have  become  corrupted, 
and  thus  find  a  way  by  which  they  may  be  transformed 
again  to  their  first  state  ?  The  elements  that  we  analyse 
are  filled  for  weak  brains  with  corrosive  venom— let  us  then 
seek  to  neutralise  these  bad  influences. 

*  The  decomposition  of  dead  bodies  we  can  well  prevent, 
can  we  not  also  stay  the  decomposition  of  the  human 
heart?  If  the  weak  know,  if  we  know,  that  a  given  vice 
has  a  bad  taste  and  'turns  but  to  dead  ashes  in  the 
mouth',  with  what  happiness  should  we  fly  from  it.  It 
is  only  necessary  to  see  certain  phases  of  degradation 
such  as  they  really  are,  to  hold  them  afterward  in  hatred." 

Anthropology,  as  considered  in  this  book,  really  enters 
more  into  the  psychopathology  of  sexual  life  than  probably 
any  other  work  yet  written  on  the  same  subject. 

Such  studies  should  be  undertaken  only  by  men — {i.e. 
Physicians  and  Magistrates)— whose  duties  compel  them 
to  make  these  matters  the  object  of  scientific  investigation. 
Dr.  R.  von  Krafft-Ebing  has  off'ered  some  weighty  remarks 
on  this  head  which  are  so  very  pertinent  to  our  point 
that  we  tender  no  apology  for  repeating  tliem : 


XXVI  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS    OF    ANTHROPOLOGY 

"It  is  the  sad  province  of  Medicine,"  he  says,  "and 
especially  of  Psychiatry,  to  constantly  regard  the  reverse 
side  of  life— human  weakness  and  misery.  (1) 

Perhaps,  in  this  difficult  calling,  some  consolation  may 
be  gained  and  extended  to  the  moralist,  if  it  be  possible 
to  refer  to  morbid  conditions  much  that  offends  ethical 
and  aesthetic  feeling.  Thus  Medicine  undertakes  to  save 
the  honor  of  mmikind  before  the  Court  of  Morality,  and 
individuals  from  judges  and  their  fellow-men.  The  duty 
and  right  of  medical  science  in  these  studies  belong  to 
it  by  reason  of  the  high  aim  of  all  human  inquiry  after 
truth. 

The  author  would  take  to  himself  the  words  of  Tardieu, 
who  had  the  courage  to  deal  in  his  day,  with  an  equally 
repulsive  subject:  "No  physical  or  moral  misery,  no  sore 
however  corrupt  it  may  he,  should  frighten  him  who  has 
devoted  himself  to  a  knowledge  of  man  and  the  sacred 
ministry  of  medicine;  in  that  he  is  obliged  to  see  all 
things,  let  him  be  permitted  to  say  all  things."  (2) 

Burton,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  attacked  in  the 
Press  for  having  printed  his  magnum  opus,  the  Thousand 
Nights  and  a  Night,  which  in  our  humble  judgment  is 
the  most  wonderful  translation  ever  made  from  one  tongue 
into  another,  and  moreover  in  the  truest  sense,  a  deep 
"  well  of  English  undefiled  ".  But  he  held,  and  justly,  that 
"A  Controversy  in  the  Press  with  the  Press  is  the  con- 
troversy  of  a  fly  with  a  spider".    He  therefore  replied 


(1)  Psychopathia  Sexualis,  with  especial  reference  to  Contrary 
Sexual  Instinct:  a  Medico-legal  study.  Seventh  edition  (Philadelphia, 
1895). 

(2)  Aucune  mis^re  physique  ou  morale,  aucune  plaie,  quelque  cor- 
rompue  qu'elle  soit,  ne  doit  efFrayer  celui  qui  s'est  vou^  a  la  science 
de  Thomme;  et  le  minist^re  sacr^  du  m^decin,  en  Tobligeant  a  tout 
voir,  lui  permet  aussi  de  tout  dire.    {Des  attentats  aux  vioeurs). 


editor's   foreword  XXVII 


to  the  critics  in  his  caustic  "  Keviewers  Reviewed".  The 
crushing  reply  is  typical  of  the  man.  The  "  Battle  of  the 
Books  "  says  he,  "  has  often  been  fought,  the  crude  text 
versus  the  bowdlerised  and  the  expurgated ;  and  our  critic 
can  contribute  to  the  great  fray  only  the  merest  plati- 
tudes. There  is  an  old  and  trusty  saying  that  'evil  com- 
munications corrupt  good  manners,'  and  it  is  a  well-known 
fact  that  the  discussion  (?)  and  reading  of  depraved 
literature  leads  (sic)  infallibly  to  the  depravation  of  the 
reader's  mind.  (Page  179  Edinburgh  Review,  No.  335 
of  July  1886).  1  should  say  that  the  childish  indecencies 
and  the  unnatural  vice  of  the  original  cannot  deprave  any 
mind  save  that  which  is  perfectly  prepared  to  be  depraved ; 
the  former  would  provoke  only  curiosity  and  amusement 
to  see  bearded  men  such  mere  babes,  and  the  latter 
would  breed  infinitely  more  disgust  than  desire.  The 
man  must  be  prurient  and  lecherous  as  a  dog-faced 
baboon  in  rut  to  have  aught  of  passion  excited  by  either. 
"  I  resolved  that,  in  case  of  the  spiteful  philanthropy 
and  the  rabid  pornophobic  suggestion  of  certain  ornaments 
of  the  Home-Press  being  acted  upon,  to  appear  in  Court 
with  my  version  of  the  Nights  in  one  hand  and  bearing 
in  the  other  the  Bible  (especially  the  Old  Testament,  a 
free  translation  from  an  ancient  Oriental  work)  and 
Shakespeare,  with  Petronius  Arbiter  and  Rabelais  by  way 
of  support  and  reserve.  The  two  former  are  printed  by 
millions;  they  find  their  way  into  the  hands  of  children, 
and  they  are  the  twin  columns  which  support  the  scanty 
edifice  of  our  universal  home-reading.  The  Arbiter  is 
sotadical  as  Abfi  Now^s,  and  the  Cure  of  Meudon  is  sur- 
passing in  what  appears  uncleanness  to  the  eye  of  outsight, 
not  of  insight.  Yet  both  have  been  translated,  textually 
and  literally,  by  eminent  Englishmen  and  gentlemen,  and 
have  been  printed  and  published  as  an  *  extra  series "  by 


XXYin  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS    OF    ANTHROPOLOGY 

Mr.  Bohn's  most  respectable  firm  and  sold  by  Messrs. 
Bell  and  Daldy.  And  if  the  Nights  are  to  be  bowdlerised 
for  students,  why  not,  I  again  ask,  mutilate  Plato  and 
Juvenal,  the  Romances  of  the  Middle  Ages,  Boccaccio  and 
Petrarch,  and  the  Elizabethan  dramatists  one  and  all? 
What  hyprocrisy  to  blaterate  about  the  Nights  in  presence 
of  such  triumphs  of  the  Natural !  How  absurd  to  swallow 
such  camels  and  to  strain  at  my  midge! 

"  Having  failed  to  free  the  Anthropological  Society  from 
the  fetters  of  mauvaise  honte,  and  the  mock-modesty 
which  compels  travellers  and  ethnological  students  to  keep 
silence  concerning  one  side  of  human  nature  (and  that 
side  the  most  interesting  to  mankind),  I  proposed  to 
supply  the  want  in  these  pages.  The  England  of  our  day 
would  fain  bring  up  both  sexes,  and  keep  all  ages,  in 
profound  ignorance  of  sexual  and  intersexual  relations ;  and 
the  consequences  of  that  imbecility  are  peculiarly  cruel  and 
afflicting.  How  often  do  we  hear  women  in  Society  lamenting 
that  they  have  absolutely  no  knowledge  of  their  own  physi- 
ology ;  and  at  what  heavy  price  must  this  fruit  of  the  know- 
ledge-tree be  bought  by  the  young  first  entering  life. 
Shall  we  ever  understand  that  ignorance  is  not  innocence? 
What  an  absurdum  is  a  veteran  officer  who  has  spent 
a  quarter- century  in  the  East  without  learning  that  all 
Moslem  women  are  circumcised,  and  without  a  notion  of 
how  female  circumcision  is  effected;  without  an  idea  of 
the  difference  between  the  Jewish  and  the  Moslem  rite  as 
regards  males ;  without  an  inkling  of  the  Armenian  process 
whereby  the  cutting  is  concealed,  and  without  the  slight- 
est theoretical  knowledge  concerning  the  mental  and  spir- 
itual effect  of  the  operation.  Where  then  is  the  shame 
of  teaching  what  it  is  shameful  not  to  have  learnt  ?  But 
the  ultra-delicacy,  the  squeamishness  of  an  age  which  is 
by  no  means  purer  or  more  virtuous  than  its  ruder  pre- 


EDITOR  S   FOREWORD  XXIX 

decessors,  has  ended  in  trenching  upon  the  ridiculous. 
Let  us  see  what  the  Modern  English  Woman  and  her 
Anglo-American  sister  have  become  under  the  working  of 
a  mock-modesty  which  too  often  acts  as  a  cloak  to  real 
dhergondage;  and  how  Respectability  unmakes  what  Nature 
made.  She  '  has  feet  but  no  "  toes  " ;  ankles  but  no 
"  calves  ";  knees  but  no  "  thighs  ";  a  stomach  but  no  "  belly  " 
nor  *  bowels  ";  a  heart  but  no  "  bladder  "  nor  "  groin  " ;  a 
liver  and  no  "  kidneys  " ;  hips  and  no  "  haunches  " ;  a  bust 
and  no  "  backside  "  nor  "  buttocks " :  in  fact,  she  is  a 
monstrum,  a  figure  fit  only  to  frighten  the  crows. 

"  I  have  no  apology  to  make  for  the  details  offered  to 
the  Students  of  Moslem  usages  and  customs,  who  will 
find  in  them  much  to  learn  and  more  to  suggest  the 
necessity  of  learning.  In  no  wise  ashamed  am  I  of  lec- 
turing upon  these  esoteric  matters,  the  most  important 
to  humanity,  at  a  time  when  their  absence  from  the  novel 
of  modern  society  veils  with  a  double  gloom  the  night- 
side  of  human  nature.  Nay,  I  take  pride  to  myself  for 
so  doing  in  the  face  of  silly  prejudice  and  miserable 
hypocrisy,  and  I  venture  to  hold  myself  in  the  light  of 
a  public  benefactor.  In  fact,  I  consider  my  labours  as  a 
legacy  bequeathed  to  my  countrymen  at  a  most  critical 
time,  when  England  the  puissantest  of  Moslem  powers  is 
called  upon,  without  adequate  knowledge  of  the  Moslem's 
inner  life,  to  administer  Egypt  as  well  as  to  rule  India. 
And  while  Pharisee  and  Philister  may  be  or  may  pretend 
to  be  "  shocked "  and  "  horrified "  by  my  pages,  the 
sound  common-sense  of  a  public,  which  is  slowly  but 
surely  emancipating  itself  from  the  prudish  and  prurient 
reticences,  and  the  immodest  and  immoral  modesties  of  the 
early  sixth  century,  will  in  good  time  do  me,  I  am  con- 
vinced, full  and  ample  justice." 

Burton's    words    in    defence   of  his  "  Nights "  so  well- 


XXX  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY 

express  our  own  opinions  on  these  matter  that  anything 
we  had  written  would  have  been  but  a  far-off  and  feeble 
echo  of  the  same  sentiments.  This  must  be  our  only 
apology  for  so  lengthy  an  extract. 

The  modern  Bayard's  lines  more  than  justify  the  exist- 
ence of  our  book.  Were  more  required,  we  would  add 
that  should  the  work  even  fall  into  the  hands  of  young 
men,  no  more  powerful  deterrent  to  vice  could  be  given 
than  that  which  under  the  heading  of  prostitution  in 
China,  shows  the  terrible  consequences  of  promiscuous 
intercourse.  "  God  help "  the  man,  young  or  old,  who 
catches  a  dose  of  syphilis,  or  confirmed  gonorrhoea  with 
all  their  nameless  and  far-reaching  results— sometimes 
involving  the  loss  of  the  virile  member,  the  nose, 
and  eyesight.  This  is  no  place  to  sermonize,  but  we 
imagine  that  were  sexual  education  less  shirked  in  England, 
there  would  be  vastly  fewer  men  who,  too  late,  learn  the 
bitter  truth  of  the  Hebrew  seer's  words,  about  the  *  strange 
woman,  which  flattereth  with  her  words,  whose  feet  go 
down  to  death,  whose  steps  take  hold  on  hell,  going 
down  to  the  chambers  of  death."  Let  men  learn  about 
these  things  in  an  open  and  lawful  way,  and  they  will  be 
less  likely  to  search  them  out  clandestinely.  Proscribe 
anything— a  book  or  other  object — and  you  at  once  put 
a  premium  on  it.  Men,  as  Napoleon  shrewdly  observed, 
are  but  "  grown-up  children ",  and  after  the  manner  of 
children  we  notice  that  they  howl  (in  their  way)  for 
anything  forbidden  them  until  they  get  it. 

If  the  false  male  prudes  who  fight,  with  a  fanaticism 
worthy  of  Sudanese  negroes,  against  the  regulation  of  vice 
in  India  and  at  Home,  knew  what  it  is  to  suffer  from 
the  hideous  diseases  which  are  bred  and  spread  by  their 
system,  we  feel  sure  they  would  use  their  efforts  in  a 
more    intelligent    direction.     In    our   judgment    they    are 


EDITOR  S   FOREWOKD  XXXI 

responsible  for  the  great  multitude  who  go  "  as  an  ox 
goeth  to  the  slaughter,  or  as  a  fool  to  the  correction  of 
the  stocks  till  a  dart  strike  through  his  liver;  as  a  bird 
hasteth  to  the  snare,  and  knoweth  not  that  it  is  for  his 
life." 

Parent-Duchatelet  in  his  monumental  work  on  Prostitu- 
tion has  the  following  sentence : 

"  What  good,  in  fact,  could  be  effected  without  the 
knowledge  of  these  habits  and  customs  ?  It  will  later  on 
avoid  groping  about,  and  may  perhaps  suggest  to  those 
who  shall  come  after  me,  some  salutary  measures  that 
our  generation  had  not  thought  of." 

These  words  seem  singularly  applicable  to  our  work, 
and  we  appropriate  them  because  expressive,  above  all,  of 
our  own  aim. 


CHARLES  CARRINGTON. 


^^^^ 


CONTENTS 


OF   THE 


FIEST     VOLUME 


SECOND    EDITION 


ANALYTICAL 
TABLE    OF    CONTENTS 


PART  THE  FIRST 


The  Editor's  Foreword Yii— xxxi 

Table  of  Contents " xxxiii  — xl 

ASIA 

CochinChina—Tonquin— Cambodia 

Chapter  L 

Cochin-China  thirty  years  ago.— A  few  words  about  Saigon 
as  it  was.— Other  Asiatic  races,  besides  the  Annamites,  inhabiting 
Cochin-China. — The  Hindoos,  otherwise  known  as  Malabars. — 
Cambodians.  — Malays. — Moys.— Anthropological  characteristics 
of  the  Moys.  — Chams.— The  Tagals  of  Manilla.— The  Chinese 
town  of  Cho-lon.  -The  Chinese  race.— Trades  and  professions  — 
Diversity  of  anthropological  types  amongst  the  Chinese.— The 
Minhuongs.  — A  few  words  on  the  manners  and  customs  of  the 
Chinese  and  Cochin-Chinese. — The  Chinese  theatre.         [Page  1 

Chaptee  IL 

The  origin  of  the  Annamites,  otherwise  called  Giao-Chi. — 
Anthropological  characteristics  of  the  race.— Genital  organs  of 
the  Annamites. — Their  small  size.— The  child  taken  as  a  basis 
of  comparison  for  the  medical  part  of  this  subject.— The  little 
Annamite  girl,  and  her  early  loss  of  virginity.  — Woman  at  the 
age  of  puberty.— The  genital  organs  of  the  adult.— Franco- 
Annamite  mongrels.  [Page  16 


XXXVI  CONTENTS 


Chapter  III. 


Woman's  place  in  Annamite  society.  -Marriage.— The  legal 
age.— Rights  and  duties  of  the  Annamite  woman.  — Her  charac- 
ter.—Adultery.— Its  repression.— Left-handed  marriages.— Bega- 
lations  and  prohibitions  of  marriage.  — Seven  causes  for  divorce.— 
Accouchements.  [Page  25 


Chapter  IV. 
Other  passions  besides  love  in  the  Annamite.  — Gambling.— 
Chinese  gambling  dens.— Baquan,  and  the  gaming  houses  at 
Saigon.  — The  opium  passion.— How  opium  is  smoked.  — Good 
effects  of  the  moderate  use  of  opium.— Nature  of  the  pleasure 
caused  by  opium.  [Page  33 


Chapter  V. 
Physical  love  amongst  the  Annamites.— The  most  usual  methods 
of  copulation.  — Asiatic  houses  of  prostitution. — The  Annamite 
Bamboo.— Dangers  of  sexual  intercourse  in  Annam.  — Gonorrhoea 
and  syphilis.— The  Chinese  brothel.— Life  of  the  Flower-Boat 
girls.— The  whore-houses  of  Cho-lon. — Habits  of  old  Chinese 
debauchees.— The  Japanese  brothel.— Physical  characteristics  of 
the  Japanese  woman.— The  Annamite  mistress  of  the  European. 

[Page  39 


Chapter  VI. 
Perversions  of  sexual  connection  in  Annam  male  prostitution.  — 
The  nay  and  the  ioy.— Usual  habits  of  Annamite  sodomites.— 
The  Chinese  sodomite.— The  shop  of  Ach  . . . .  the  Chinese.— 
Chinese  Erotic  literature.— A  house  of  ill-fame  for  men  at 
Cho-lon. — Manners  of  the  Chinese  actors  who  play  women's  parts. 

[Page      91 


CONTENTS  XXXVIl 

Chapter  VII. 

Study  of  the  buccal,  vulvar,  and  anal  deformities  caused  by 
male  and  female  prostitution  in  the  Annamite  race.— The  vulva 
of  the  young  girl  before  puberty,  and  of  the  Annamite  woman ; 
signs  of  the  loss  of  Tirginity.  — Sodomy  and  pederasty.— Anal 
Blennorrhoea.  — Signs  of  inveterate  passive  sodomy.  — The  Anal 
Infundibulum.— Relaxation  of  the  Sphincter.— Effacement  of  the 
Eadiating  Folds.— Signs  of  active  pederasty  in  the  Annamite 
and  the  Chinese. — Signs  of  active  and  passive  pederasty  in  the 
European  in  Cochin-China.— Signs  of  Passive  Sodomy. 

[Page    lis 

Chapter  VIII. 

The  European  Colony  thirty  years  ago.— The  two  first 
European  prostitutes.— Rarity  of  the  European  woman.— Moral 
causes  of  the  relative  frequency  of  sodomy  and  pederasty  in 
those  days.— Saigon  in  the  present  day.— Increase  of  the 
feminine  element.— Nocturnal  amusements.— The  European  pros- 
titute.—Great  Improvement  in  the  Morality  of  the  Europeans 
in  Cochin-China.— The  Diminution  in  the  Male  and  Female 
Prostitution  of  the  Natives  more  apparent  than  Real. — How 
the  Business  is  now  managed. — The  hoy  and  the  native  collegian. 

[Page     133 

Chapter  IX. 

My  visit  to  Tonquin. —Anthropological  characteristics  of 
the  Tonquinese.— The  Muongs,  and  the  Xas  or  Quans.— The 
Chinaman,  and  the  Tonquin- Chinese  half-breed. — Chinese 
Piracy.— Manners,  habits,  customs,  and  religion. — Moral  charac- 
teristics, forms  and  perversions  of  sexual  passion. — The  European 
Colony  in  Tonquin.  [Page    148 

Chapter  X. 

My  sojourn  in  Cambodia.— Anthropological  characteristics 
of  the  Cambodians. — Organs  of  generation.  — Foreign  races 
inhabiting  Cambodia.— The  Malays  and  Chams.— The  Chinese.— 


XXXVIII  CONTENTS 

The  Portuguese.  — Social  Condition  of  Cambodia.  — Decadence  of 
the  Country  and  of  the  Kmcrs.— The  Royal  Prerogatives  before  the 
French  Protectorate.  -The  Abbaioureach  and  the  Abbarcach.— 
Tho  Five  Ministers.— The  Mandarin  Class.— The  Oath  of  the 
Mandarins.  — The  Middle  Class.  — Free  Men.  — Slav€ry,— Habita- 
tions, customs,  food. — Moral  Characteristics  of  the  Cambodians. — 
Strange  custom  at  the  castration  of  animals.— Bravery  of  the 
Cambodians.— Hunting  the  elephant  and  rhinoceros.— Religion. — 
Noro-dom's  White  Elephant. —  Beliefs.— Religious  festivals.— 
Feast  of  the  dead.  — Human  sacrifices.  — Cambodian  Legislation 
and  Justice.— Decay  of  the  race  and  its  causes. -The  Kmer 
Vulgar  Tongue.- -The  common  language  and  the  sacred  language. 

[Page    157 

Chapter  XI. 

Sexual  passion,  its  forms  and  perversions  in  the  Cambodian 
race.  — Betrothals.— Two  Kmer  Proverbs.— Marriage.— Poly- 
gamy.—Rank  of  the  first  wife.— Adultery  and  its  repression.- 
Divorce.— Adoption.— Manners  of  the  Kmer  woman. — The  life 
of  the  young  girl.— King  Noro-dom's  harem.— The  royal  corps 
de  ballet.  —  Singing  and  music— Modes  of  copulation.— Perversion 
of  sexual  passion.  [Page    187 


PART    THE   SECOND 


AMERICA 

Guiana — Mar  Unique 

Chaptee  I. 

A  short  stay  at  Martinique.— Arrival  at  Guiana. — Yellow- 
Fever  and  its  Preventive  treatment.— The  white  Creole  of 
Cayenne. — Prejudice  against  colour.— The  Fashionable  world  of 
Guiana.— Hospitality  of  the  Creole.— The  Creole  patois.— 
Playfulness  of  the  Creole  ladies.  — "  Lou  Tafanari "  and  her 
"potato". — The  misadventures  of  a  singer  of  smutty  songs.— 
Fidelity  and  kindness  of  the  ladies.  [Pago    199 


CONTENTS.  XXXIX 

Chapter  II. 

The  coloured  races.  — Influence  of  black  blood  on  the  cross 
breed  with  the  white. — Octoroons.  — Quadroons,  Mulattoes,  and 
Zambos.  — Easy  morals  of  the  coloured  woman.- The  pure 
Negress.- Saturday  night  to  Sunday. — Milady  C  "the  Queen 
of  the  golden  wrists  ".  —  The  musky  odour  of  the  Negress. — 
The  genital  organs  of  the  Negro,  the  Zambo,  and  the  Mulatto.— 
The  odour  of  nudity.--  The  influence  of  age  on  the  odor  faeminse.— 
The  awakening  of  erotic  ideas. — Males  thrown  off  the  scent  as 
to  the  odour  of  their  females  during  the  act  of  copulation. 

[Page     211 
Chapter  III. 

The  Negress  and  her  sexual  lust.— Eroticism  of  the  Negress.— 
Methods  of  copulation.— The  Mulatta  and  the  Quadroon.— 
Astringent  injections.— The  Aphrodisiacs  used  by  the  Coloured 
Women.— The  Decoction  of  "Tightening  Wood".— "The  Hot 
aubergine".— Dislike  of  the  Negress  to  Sodomy  and  other 
Vicious  Habits.— The  Octoroon.— Depraved  Lust  of  the  White 
man  for  the  Negress. — The  beauties  of  the  Coloured  woman.— 
Permanent  Marks  of  Blood  in  the  Genital  Organs  of  the 
Male.— Perversions  of  Sexual  Passions  in  the  Negro  and 
Colonred  Races.  [Page    238 

Chapter  IV. 

The  Hindoos  at  Guiana.— Laziness  of  the  Black  Man  of 
Cayenne.— The  hired  coolie. —Anthropological  characteristics.— 
Genital  organs  of  the  race.  — Comparison  of  the  Genital  Organ 
of  the  Negro  with  that  of  the  Hindoo.— The  four  temperaments 
of  the  Hindoo  woman. — Perversion  of  sexual  lust.     [Page    260 

Chapter  V. 
The  Penitentiary  and  its  occupants.— Transported  Criminals, 
or  Old  Convicts. — The  old  convicts.— Their  manners  and 
customs.— Innate  liking  of  the  Arab  for  pederasty.  — A  crew 
under  the  "  Caudine  Forks". — Ferocious  lust  of  the  African 
Arab. —Active  pederasty  of  the  Arab.— Pederasty  is  principally 
a  Question  of  Race.— The  Arab's  organ  of  generation. 

[Page    270 


XL  CONTENTS 

Chapter  VI. 

The  convict  under  military  law.  — Capt.  B***,  President  of 
the  Council  of  War  —Curious  Cases  tried  before  the  Council.— 
Hindoo. — Pederasty  amongst  Arabs. — Arab  Criminal  Assaults 
and  Kape.  [Page    286 

Chapter  VII. 

My  Stay  at  Martinique.— The  whites,  called  pure  Creoles. — 
Prejudice  against  Colour. — The  Black  race. —Moral  characteristics 
of  the  Negress.— The  Coloured  Race.— The  Mulatto.— The 
Quadroon  girl  and  her  passionate  nature.  — "  Fricatrices"  and 
Lesbians.— Depilation.  [Page     300 


XHntrobben  jFielbs  of 
Hntbtopoloo^g* 


PART  THE  FIRST— ASIA. 

Cochin-Chin  A — Tonquin — Cambodia. 

CHAPTER  I. 

Cochin- Chiva  thirty  years  ago. — A  few  7vords  about  Saigon  as 
it  was. —  Other  Asiatic  Races,  besides  the  Annamites,  inhabiting 
Cochin- China. —  The  Hindoos,  otherwise  knoivn  as  Ma  labors. — 
Cambodians. — Malays.  -  Moys. — Anthropological  characteristics  of 
the  Moys. —  Chams.  —  The  Tagals  of  Manilla.  —  The  Chinese 
toivn  of  Cho-lon.  —  The  Chinese  race. —  Trades  and  professions. 
—  Diuersily  of  anthropological  types  amongst  the  Chinese.— 
The  Minhuovgs.  —  A  feiv  words  on  the  manners  and  customs 
of  the   Chinese  and  Cochin- Chinese.  —  The  Chinese  theatre. 

Cochin-China  thirty  Years  ago.  Cochin-China  was 
the  first  colony  I  visited,  and  the  impressions  I  retain 
of  it  are  like  those  of  a  beardless  youth  for  his  first 
mistress. 

I  had  hardly  left  the  class-rooms  of  the  College  of 
Medicine,  in  i86 — ,  than  I  obtained  a  post  as  assistant- 
surgeon  in  the  Navy,  and  was  sent  to  Cochin-China. 
I    will   pass    over   the  varied  incidents  of  a  voyage  of 


2  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS  OF 

more  than  two  months  (the  Suez  Canal  was  not  then 
made),  and  enter  at  once  upon  the  study  of  the  manners 
and  customs  of  the  various  races  inhabiting  Cochin- 
China  at  the  period  of  which  I  speak.  An  uninter- 
rupted residence  of  five  years  in  the  colony,  and  a 
second  visit  twenty-five  years  later,  are  guarantees 
of  the  correctness  of  my  observations. 

A   Few   Words  about  Saigon  as  it  Originally 

-was.  The  impression  produced  by  Saigon  at  this 
time  has  been  very  well  described  by  Pallu  de  la 
Barriere,  ^  only  two  years  after  the  conquest  in  1861, 
for,  until  the  capture  of  the  intrenched  camp  at  Ki- 
hoa,  the  occupation  of  Saigon  could  only  be  regarded 
as  temporary : 

"  The  traveller  who  arrives  at  Saigon  perceives,  on 
the  right  bank  of  the  river,  a  kind  of  street,  the  sides 
of  which  are  broken  here  and  there  by  large  empty 
spaces.  The  houses — which  for  the  most  part  are  of 
wood — are  covered  with  leaves  of  the  dwarf  palm ;  a 
few  of  the  houses  are  of  stone.  Their  roofs,  of  red 
tiles,  brighten  and  improve  the  scene.  Then  comes 
the  curved  roof  of  a  pagoda;  then  a  shed,  out  of  the 
perpendicular,  which  serves  as  a  market,  and  the  roof 
of  which  seems  slipping  down  on  the  right  side.  In 
the  middle  distance  are  some  arrack  palms,  which 
harmonize  well  with  the  soil  of  India ;  the  other  vege- 
tation lacks  character.  Thousands  of  boats  are  huddled 
together  along  the  bank  of  the  river,  and  form  a  little 
floating  town.  Besides  this  there  is  not  much  to  see 
at  Saigon,  unless  it  is  the  Chinese  arroyo,  with  its  fairly 
clean    houses    built    of  stone,  some   of  them  old,  and 

'  Pallu  de  la  Barri^rc.  Hhtoirc  de  I' Expedition  de  Cochinchine. 
Paris   1888.  in  8vo. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  3 

Standing-  amidst  copses  of  cabbage  palms.  Further  off, 
on  the  heights,  are  the  house  of  the  French  Comman- 
dant, that  of  the  Spanish  Colonel,  the  students'  camp, 
and  that  is  about  all." 

I   have    given    this    description  of  Saigon  such  as  it 

was  at  the  time  when  the  colony  of  Cochin-China  was 

in  its  infancy.     We  shall  find  it  much  changed  a  quarter 

of  a  century  later. 

Before    studying    the  Annamite    race,    let  us  cast  a 

rapid  glance  at  the  other  Asiatic  races  inhabiting  this 

country. 

The  Asiatic  Races,  besides  the  Annamites 
inhabiting  Cochin-China.  These  various  races  are 
all  represented,  more  or  less,  at  Saigon.  Moreover, 
five  years  spent  in  continual  journeys  in  the  interior 
of  the  country,  have  given  me  opportunities  of  studying 
them  all  pretty  closely.  The  Chinese  race,  which  has 
the  pre-eminence  over  all  the  other  foreign  races, 
both  in  number  and  importance,  deserves  a  special 
mention. 

The  Hindoos,  known  as  Malabars.  There  is  to 
be  found  at  Saigon,  a  certain  number  of  natives  of 
India,  known  under  the  generic  title  of  Malabars,  as 
they  usually  come  from  the  Malabar  Coast,  Madras, 
Pondicherry,  Bombay,  etc.  Some  of  them  are  Catholics, 
other  Brahmins,  but  the  greater  part  are  Mahometans. 
They  breed  cattle,  drive  carts,  transport  goods,  and 
keep  little  retail  shops,  or  they  change  piasters  and 
other  money. 

The  Mahometans  have  constructed  a  handsome 
mosque ;  after  the  Ramadan  they  celebrate  their  Bairam,  ^ 

*  The  ninth  month  of  the  Muhammadan  year,  which  is  observed  as 
a  strict  fast  from  dawn  to  sunset  of  each  day  in  the  month.     The  word 


4  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

and  have  a  grand  procession  by  night,  when,  by  the 
hght  of  thousands  of  torches,  they  drag  about  an  im- 
mense car. 

The  anthropological  remarks  that  I  shall  have  to 
make  further  on  about  the  Indian  coolies  of  Guiana, 
will  apply  to  their  congeners  of  Saigon,  and  I  must 
refer  the  reader  to  that  part  of  the  book.  But  the 
Malabars  of  Cochin-China  are  taller  and  more  robust, 
and  of  a  much  handsomer  type.     Some  have  brought 

Ramazd,n  is  derived  from  ramz,  "  to  bum"  The  month  Ls  said  to  have 
been  so  called  either  because  it  used  (before  the  change  of  the  calendar) 
to  occur  in  the  hot  season,  or  because  the  month's  fast  is  supposed  to 
bvun  away  the  sins  of  men  {Ghiyasu'^l-Lughah,  in  loco). 

The  observance  of  this  month  is  one  of  the  five  pillars  of  practice  in 
the  Muslim  religion,  and  its  excellence  is  much  extolled  by  Muhammad, 
who  said  that  dvuing  Ramazan  "the  gates  of  Paradise  are  open,  and  the 
gates  of  h,eD  are  shut,  and  the  devils  are  chained  by  the  leg,  and  only 
thpse  who  observe  it  will  be  permitted  to  enter  at  the  gate  of  heaven 
called  Raiyftn."  Those  who  keep  the  fast  "will  be  pardoned  all  their 
past  venial  sins "  {Mishk&t,  book  VII,  ch.  I.  part  I). 

See  Hughes'  "Diet,  of  Islam"  p.  533;  London,  1885,  for  more 
extensive  details ;  also  the  realistic  account  given  by  Burton  in  his 
Pilgrimage  to  Al-Madinah  and  Meccah  (Lond.  1^73).  Sir  Richard 
thinks  that  "like,  the  Italian,  the  Anglo-Catholic,  and  the  Greek  fasts, 
the  chief  effect  of  the  "  blessed  month  "  upon  True  Believers  is  to  darken 
their  tempers  into  positive  gloom.  Their  voices,  never  of  the  softest, 
acquire,  especially  after  noon,  a  terribly  harsh  and  crealdng  tone.  The 
men  curse  one  another  and  beat  the  women.  The  women  slap  and 
abuse  the  children,  and  these  in  their  turn  cruelly  entreat,  and  use  bad 
language  to  the  dogs  and  cats.  You  can  scarcely  spend  ten  minutes  in 
any  populous  part  of  the  city  without  hearing  some  violent  dispute.  It 
is  only  fair  to  Islam  to  add  that  of  course  all  quarrelling,  abuse,  and 
evil  words  are  stricdy  forbidden  to  the  Moslem  during  Ramazan.  If 
one  believer  insults  another,  the  latter  should  repeat  I  am  fasting, "three 
times  before  venturing  himself  to  reply.  Such  is  the  wise  law.  But 
human  nature  in  Egypt,  as  elsewhere,  is  always  ready  to  sacrifice  the 
spirit  to  the  letter,  rigidly  to  obey  the  physical  part  of  an  ordinance,  and 
to  cast  away  the  moral,  as  if  it  were  the  husk  and  not  the  kernel." 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  5 

their  wives  from  India;  others  have  married  Annamite 
women,  by  whom  chey  have  mongrel  children  of  a 
villainously  low  type  of  humanity. 

Cambodians.  The  Cambodian  race,  being  the  sub- 
ject of  a  special  study  later  on,  I  will  not  speak  of  it 
here. 

Malays.  The  Malays  descended  from  Cambodia, 
whither  they  had  emigrated  from  the  isthmus  of  Ma- 
lacca. They  are,  in  general,  sober,  patient,  and  avari- 
cious :  they  carry  on  the  business  of  pawnbrokers, 
and  charge  a  very  high  rate  of  interest.  They  inhabit 
separate  villages,  and  rarely  intermarry  with  the  An- 
namite race.  The  Malays  are  Mahometans,  and  faithful 
to  their  religion.  Many  of  them  carry  on  trade  by 
exchanging  the  products  of  Cambodia  against  those 
of  Cochin-China,  and  they  form  amongst  themselves 
associations  analagous  to  those  of  the  Chinese.  As 
far  as  industries  are  concerned,  they  manufacture 
hardly  anything  but  jewellery. 

Their  costume  consists  of  cotton  drawers,  a  tight- 
fitting  waistcoat,  a  linen  jacket,  and  a  turban.  The 
men  are  close  shaved ;  the  women  who  wear  a  lang- 
outi,  and  a  long  robe,  have  their  hair  dressed  in  the 
Annamite  fashion. 

In  form,  colour,  and  conformation,  the  genital  organs 
of  both  sexes  of  the  Malays  greatly  resemble  those 
of  the  Annamite,  though  they  are  unquestionably 
more  virile. 

Moys.  I  have  examined  the  Moys  of  the  district 
of  Baria,  where  they  possess  many  villages.  Their 
habitations    may  be  found  in  groups  of  three  or  four, 


6  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

each  house  holding  perhaps  a  score  of  persons.  These 
houses  stand  on  posts,  and  are  raised  four  or  five 
yards  above  the  ground.  They  look  like  large  rect- 
angular cages  made  of  bamboo,  with  a  thatched 
roof.  The  primitive  furniture  consits  mainly  of  a  slab 
of  baked  clay  to  make  the  fire  on,  and  a  few  screens 
of  bamboo  to  contain  the  provisions. 

The  men  wear  a  square  of  cloth  over  the  genital 
parts,  and  the  young  women  cover  their  breasts  with 
a  square  of  cloth  hung  round  the  neck.  Both  sexes 
have  their  ears  pierced,  and  wear  ear-rings.  Their 
language  completely  differs  from  that  of  the  Annamite. 

In  this  race,  so  different  from  the  Annamite,  family 
feelings,  and  extreme  kindness  to  children  are  exhibited 
in  a  marked  degree.  Young  people  marry,  after  they 
have  attained  the  age  of  puberty,  without  any  cere- 
mony, or  written  contract.  The  Moy  respects  customs, 
however,  and  cannot  repudiate  his  wife  and  take 
another,  without  being  obliged  to  provide  for  the  first 
wife  and  her  children. 

The  manners  of  the  people  are  very  pure.  Adul- 
tery is  very  rare,  and  the  vices  we  shall  find  amongst 
the  Annamites  almost  unknown.  The  Moy  copulates 
with  his  wife  according  to  the  law  of  nature,  and 
without  tricks  of  any  sort.  From  this  point  of  view 
it  is  the  Annamites,  not  the  Moys,  who  ought  to  be 
called  savages,  for  they  are  one  of  the  most  corrupt 
people  in  the  civilized  world. 

The  religion  of  the  Moys  is  very  elementary,  and 
is  confined  generally  to  a  worship  of  the  dead.  * 

'  A  very  sigaificant  fact  representing  already  no  small  sute  of  culture. 
Spencer  (in  chap.  XX.  on  '^  Ancestor- Worship  in  general",  in  his 
masterful  work  dealing  with  the  "^  Principles  of  Sociology" ,1.0^^.  1885) 
— points    out    that    "in    the    Far    East,    another   vast    society    which  had 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  7 

Anthropological  Characteristics  of  the  Moys. 
This  race  may  be  classed  as  amongst  the  smallest  in 
the    world — smaller   than  the  Lapps,  according  to  Dr. 

reached  considerable  heights  of  culture,  while  Europe  was  covered  by 
barbarians,  has  practised,  and  still  practices,  ancestor-worship, . . .  With 
the  highly-developed  religious  systems  of  India,  there  co-exists  a  daily 
re-genesis  of  deities  from  dead  men."  (page  283).  Further  on  he  brings 
evidence  to  show  that  "  the  word  for  a  god  means  literally  a  dead 
man  ".  The  whole  passage  is  so  profoundly  interesting  that  we  may  be 
pardoned  for  reproducing  it:  —  "Ghost,  spirit,  demon — names  at  first 
applied  to  the  other-self  without  distinctions  of  character — come  to  be 
differently  applied  as  ascribed  differences  of  character  arise :  the  shade  of 
an  enemy  becomes  a  devil,  and  a  friendly  shade  becomes  a  divinity. 
Where  the  conceptions  have  not  developed  far,  there  are  no  differentiated 
titles,  and  the  distinctions  made  by  us  cannot  be  e.xpressed.  The  early 
Spanish  missionaries  in  America  were  incovenienced  by  finding  that  the 
only  native  word  they  could  use  for  God  also  meant  devil.  In  Greek, 
(fatfiwv  &s6q  are  mterchangeable.  By  ^schylus,  Agamemnon's 
children  are  represented  as  appealing  to  their  father's  ghost  as  to  a  god. 
So,  too,  with  the  Romans.  Besides  the  unspecialized  use  of  damon, 
which  means  an  angel  or  genius,  good  or  bad,  we  find  the  unspecialized 
use  of  deus  for  god  and  ghost.  On  tombs  the  manes  were  called  gods ; 
and  a  law  directs  that  "  the  rights  of  the  manes — gods,  are  to  be  kept 
sacred." 

Similarly  with  the  Hebrews. 

Isaiah,  representing  himself  as  commanded  to  reject  it,  quotes  a  current 
belief  implying  such  identification :  "  And  when  they  say  unto  you, 
'  Consult  the  ghost-seers  and  the  wizards,  that  chirp  and  that  mutter ! 
Should  not  people  consult  their  gods,  even  the  dead  on  behalf  of  the 
living?  "  When  Saul  goes  to  question  the  ghost  of  Samuel,  the  e.\- 
pression  of  the  enchantress  is — "I  saw  gods  [elohim]  ascending  out  of 
the  earth ;  "  god  and  ghost  being  thus  used  as  equivalents. 

Even  in  our  own  day  the  kinship  is  traceable.  The  statement  that 
God  is  a  spirit,  shows  the  application  of  a  term  which,  otherwise 
applied,  signifies  a  human  soul.  Only  by  its  qualifying  epithet  is  the 
meaning  of  Holy  Ghost  distinguished  from  the  meaning  of  ghost  in 
general.  A  divine  being  is  still  denoted  by  words  that  originally  meant 
the  breath  which,  deserting  a  man's  body  at  death,  was  supposed  to 
constitute  the  surviving  part. 


8  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

Neis.  ^  "  The  tint  of  their  skin,"  says  this  author, 
"  is  darker  than  that  of  the  Annamites.  They  have 
but  Httle  hair,  though  more  than  is  usual  with  the 
yellow  races.  It  is  always  black  and  wavy,  or  in 
some  cases  curly;  the  beard,  which  is  sometimes  thick 
on  the  lips  and  chin,  is  wanting  on  the  cheeks. 

"  The  skull  is  dolicho-cephalous,  slightly  scaphocephal- 
ous, the  face  is  prognathic,  the  forehead  narrow,  the 
cheek-bones  slightly  projecting;  the  eyelids  which  are 
large  and  well-formed,  are  horizontal  and  not  oblique 
like  those  of  the  yellow  races.  The  nose  is  very  flat, 
the  mouth  wide,  the  teeth  are  large,  well-set,  and 
reddened  with  betel. 

"  The  muscles  are  but  little  developed,  and  do  not 
project  under  the  skin.  The  breasts  of  the  woman, 
which  are  of  average  size,  are  conical ;  they  wither 
soon,  but  without  lengthening  like  the  breasts  of  the 
Negress.  The  ankles  are  small,  the  feet  long,  and 
the  toes  wide  apart,  as  is  the  case  with  all  people 
who  walk  bare-footed." 

I  have  given  this  description  in  exienso,  but  that 
of  the  genital  organs  is  still  wanting.  I  do  not  know 
why  the  anthropologists  have,  until  now,  almost  entirely 
neglected  to  note  in  the  various  human  races  the 
variations  in  form  and  colour  of  the  genital  organ, 
for  me  the  most  important  of  all  organs,  since  it  in- 
sures the  continuance  of  the  race.  I  shall  have  more 
than  once  to  refer  to  the  results  of  these  examinations, 
which  I  made  very  carefully. 

In  the  Moy,  the  colour  of  the  skin  of  the  genital 
organs,  and  particularly  the  scrotum,  is  darker  than 
in   the  Annamite.     It   is  the  same  with  the  colour  of 

*  N6is  (Paul)  sur  le  Laos.  Bulletins  de  la  Socie'te  d' Anthropologie 
de  Paris.  Vol.  viii,  3rd  Series.     Paris,    1885. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  9 

the  mucous  membrane  of  the  "  great  lips,"  the  gland, 
and  the  vagina,  which  are  not  so  light,  but  of  a  tint 
approaching  more  to  dark  red.  The  penis  and  testi- 
cles of  the  Moy  are  larger  than  those  of  the  Annamite, 
although  their  average  height  is  less.  The  vulva  and 
vagina  of  the  Moy  woman  are  more  developed  than 
those  of  the  Annamite  woman.  The  pubis  is  shaded, 
in  both  sexes,  by  a  fair  quantity  of  curly  hair,  of  a 
very  black  colour. 

None  of  the  Moys  I  was  able  to  examine  showed 
any  traces  of  masturbation  or  unnatural  habits.  There 
is  a  great  difference  in  this  respect  between  the  Moy 
and  Annamite  races. 

There  is  no  single  point  in  common  between  the 
two  races.  The  Annamite,  being  more  civilized,  looks 
down  with  contempt  upon  the  savage  Moy,  and  will 
not  ally  himself  with  them.  The  number  of  Moys 
was  sensibly  diminishing  when  I  arrived  in  Cochin- 
China,  and  the  race  will  soon  die  out,  as  every  inferior 
race  does  in  the  presence  of  a  more  advanced  people. 

Chams.  It  is  asserted  that  the  Chams  are  of  Malay 
origin,  and  are  descended  from  the  remnant  of  the  old 
Kingdom  of  Ciampa,  which  was  formerly  conquered 
by  the  Annamites.  Some  wandering  tribes  may  still 
be  met  on  the  confines  of  the  colony,  towards  Tay- 
Ninh  and  Chandoc.  These  people  flee  from  civilization. 
What  I  have  said  about  the  Malays  will  apply  to  the 
Chams. 

The  Tagals  of  Manilla.  At  the  time  of  my  first 
visit,  there  were  still  in  Cochin-China  some  Tagals  of 
Manilla,  forming  part  of  the  Spanish  Expeditionary 
Corps.     They   were   generally   hunters  of  wild  beasts, 


lO  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

or  sometimes  sais  and  coachmen.  It  is  a  hardy  and 
sober  race.  They  have  adopted  as  their  costume,  white 
trousers,  with  over  them,  a  shirt  with  long  tails.  By 
marriage  with  the  Annamite  woman,  the  Tagal  has 
founded  a  mongrel  race  which  is  not  half  numerous 
enough. 

The  Town  of  Cho-lon.  About  three  miles  from 
Saigon  is  the  Chinese  town  of  Cho-lon,  built  a  century 
ago  by  Chinese  emigrants,  and  having  the  exact 
appearance  of  a  town  of  the  South  of  China. 

An  old  friend  of  mine,  Luro,  a  Government  inspector 
of  the  natives,  whom  I  knew  intimately,  has  written 
the  following  picturesque  description  of  it :  "  In  the 
interior  of  Cho-lon  are  many  retail  shops ;  those  which 
do  a  large  trade,  kept  by  Chinese,  and  the  smaller 
shops  kept  by  Annamite  women.  The  goods  are 
neatly  and  cleverly  displayed.  The  seeds-man,  grocer, 
restaurant-keeper,  chemist,  tailor,  boot-maker,  jeweller, 
iron-monger,  trunk-maker,  confectioner,  etc.,  all  have 
their  name  written  in  large  Chinese  characters  over 
the  door,  artistically  painted  in  black,  red,  blue,  or 
gold,  according  to  the  taste  of  the  proprietor.  There 
is  a  continual  movement  of  customers  entering  and 
leaving.  The  shops  are  open  in  the  evening,  the 
streets  are  lighted  by  the  Municipality  (with  gas  at 
present)  and,  besides  that,  are  illuminated  with  Chinese 
lanterns  of  the  most  varied  and  pleasing  forms  and 
colours,  on  which  are  painted,  in  transparent  characters, 
the  name  of  the  tradesman." 

The  Chinese  Race.  There  were,  in  i86— ,  in 
Saigon  and  Cho-lon,  more  than  30,000  Chinese,  and 
as   many   more   in  the   interior   of  the   country.     The 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  1 1 

Chinaman  is  the  Jew  of  the  Extreme  East,  he  has  in 
his  hands  nearly  all  the  wholesale  and  retail  trade. 
He  is  sharp,  and  thirsty  after  gain,  but  he  is  satisfied 
with  a  small  profit.  The  European  merchant  is  obliged 
to  use  him  as  an  intermediate  agent.  An  Englishman 
who  lived  many  years  of  his  life  in  Hongkong  has 
sketched  the  following  picture  of  this  peculiar  race: 

"  Of  the  moral  character  of  the  people,  who  have 
multiplied  until  they  are  'as  the  sand  which  is  upon 
the  sea-shore,'  it  is  very  difficult  to  speak  justly.  The 
moral  character  of  the  Chinese  is  a  book  written  in 
strange  letters,  which  are  more  complex  and  difficult 
for  one  of  another  race,  religion  and  langfuage  to 
decipher  than  their  own  singularly  compounded  word- 
symbols.  In  the  same  individual,  virtues  and  vices, 
apparently  incompatible,  are  placed  side  by  side. 
Meekness,  gentleness,  docihty,  industry,  contentment, 
cheerfulness,  obedience  to  superiors,  dutifulness  to 
parents,  and  reverence  for  the  aged,  are  in  one  and 
the  same  person,  the  companions  of  insincerity,  lying, 
flattery,  treachery,  cruelty,  jealousy,  ingratitude,  avarice, 
and  distrust  of  others.  The  Chinese  are  a  weak  and 
timid  people,  and  in  consequence,  like  all  similarly 
constituted  races,  they  seek  a  natural  refuge  in  deceit 
and  fraud."  ^ 

Various  Trades  and  Professions  of  the  Chinese. 

Compared  with  the  Annamite,  the  Chinaman  looks 
like  a  stronger  and  more  robust  cousin -german.  The 
family  resemblance  is  evident,  in  spite  of  the  radical 
difference  between  the  Annamite  chignon  and  the 
Chinese  pig-tail.     This  family  likeness  between  the  two 

'  J.  H.  Gray. —  *  China. —  The  Laws,  Afanners,  and  Customs  of  the 
people"  (London,    1878,  page   15   of  Vol    i.) 


12  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS    OF 

races  is  specially  remarkable  amongst  the  Chinese  of 
the  lowest  order  (called  bambous)  who  for  a  few  sapecks 
perform  the  duties  of  porters.  He  is  scantily  clad  in 
a  pair  of  ragged  breeches,  coming  only  to  his  knees, 
and  his  naked  sun-burnt  body  has  a  tint  as  dark  as 
that  of  the  Annamite  field-labourer. 

Above  this  lowest  class  come  the  peripatetic  sellers 
of  food,  and  those  who  act  as  cooks  to  Europeans, 
who  enjoy  what  I  must  own  to  be  a  well-deserved 
reputation.  There  are  also,  amongst  the  Chinese,  boys, 
who  act  as  waiters  in  the  European  cafes  and  restau- 
rants.    They  are  generally  very  cleanly  in  their  habits. 

The  Chinaman  is  also  the  proprietor  of  the  gambling 
houses  and  brothels.  He  is  also  a  gardener,  and 
grows  (using  human  excrements  as  manure)  all  sorts 
of  European  vegetables  in  the  gardens  round  Saigon. 
It  is  not  possible  to  take  a  walk  in  the  outskirts  of 
the  town,  before  sunset,  without  being  stifled  by  an 
abominable  stench  of  night  soil.  On  the  other  hand, 
during  eight  months  of  the  year,  you  can  eat  salads 
and  vegetables  which  are  quite  as  cheap  as  in  the 
markets  of  London  or  Paris. 

Diversity  in  the  Anthropological  Characteristics 
of  the  Chinese.  The  skin  of  the  Chinaman  of  Canton 
(who  is  generally  rich)  is  almost  as  white  as  the  skin 
of  a  native  of  the  South  of  France.  The  tint  resembles 
that  of  weak  tea.  The  mucous  membranes  are  a 
rather  bright  carmine,  toned  down  with  a  dash  of  ochre. 
This  colour  is  more  specially  found  in  the  mucous 
tissues  of  the  gland  and  the  vulva.  It  is  impossible 
to  confound  it  with  that  of  coloured  men,  the  result 
of  a  cross  between  the  Negro  and  the  White,  for  in 
them  the  brown  tint  of  the  mucous  membranes  of  the 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  I3 

Negro  asserts  itself,  and  forms  a  marked  anthropological 
characteristic. 

At  the  opposite  end  of  the  scale  of  the  Chinese  race 
is  the  Chinaman  of  the  South  (from  Fokien  or  Hainam), 
whose  skin  is  of  the  colour  of  dark  yellow  ginger- 
bread, and  whose  mucous  membranes  have  a  yellowish 
red  tint,  almost  the  colour  of  "  raw  Sienna,"  darkened 
with  a  little  Sepia. 

As  to  the  size  and  conformation  of  the  genital  organs, 
it  appeared  to  me  that  the  Chinaman  of  the  North 
closely  resembled  the  European.  The  prepuce  is  but 
small,  and  imperfectly  covers  the  gland  when  in  a 
state  of  repose. 

The  Chinaman  of  the  South  appears  to  be  less  vigor- 
ous, as  a  male,  than  the  Chinaman  of  the  North,  but 
he  is  still  much  superior  in  this  respect  to  the  average 
Annamite.  He  also  presents  the  same  characteristic 
of  the  imperfectly  developed  foreskin ;  and  the  gland, 
which  is  only  half  covered  when  the  organ  is  flaccid, 
slips  out  very  easily  and  completely  when  it  is  in  erec- 
tion. I  have  met  very  few  cases  of  phimosis,  *  which, 
on  the  contrary,  is  so  common  in  the  European  races. 

The  pubes  projects,  and  is  furnished  with  black  hair 
slightly  curly,  and  fairly  thick  in  the  case  of  the  Can- 
tonese. The  testicles  of  the  Chinese  appeared  to  me 
to  be  a  little  smaller  than  those  of  the  Europeans,  but 
the  difference  is  not  very  marked, 

Wherever  he  may  come  from,  and  whatever  may  be 
his    social  position,  the  Chinaman  shows  one  common 

*  Historical  students  will  recollect  that  it  was  this  infirmity  which 
prevented  Louis  XVI  from  accomplishing  his  marital  duties  until  eight 
years  after  his  marriage,  when  he  submitted  to  the  necessary  liberating 
operation.  (For  further  interesting  details  on  this  subject,  see  "  The 
Secret   Cabinet  of  History",  p.   77  and  seq.  Paris,   1896.) 


1 4  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

characteristic — his  lubricity,  and  his  great  fecundity 
with  those  Asiatic  races  to  whom  he  allies  himself. 
On  that  account  he  is  a  famous  colonizer  in  times  of 
peace.  * 

Minhuongs.  This  is  the  name  given  to  children 
who  are  the  offspring  of  a  Chinaman  and  an  Annamite 
woman;  they  are  whiter  and  better  formed  than  the 
indigenes.  Amongst  them,  one  may  often  meet  very 
lovely  children  who  have  not  attained  puberty.  The 
Minhuong  is  as  active  and  intelligent  as  his  father,  and 
as  stubborn  as  his  mother.  He  inherits  from  his  father 
the  Chinese  type,  and  he  preserves  the  manners,  the 
religion,  and  the  costume  of  the  Celestial.  This  is  im- 
portant to  note.  His  skin  is  lighter,  and  his  muscular 
strength  much  superior  to  that  of  the  pure  Annamite. 

As  a  generator,  the  form,  colour,  and  dimensions  of 
his  reproductive  apparatus  are  almost  like  those  of  the 
Chinaman,  with  a  slightly  darker  shade  of  the  skin  and 
the  mucous  membranes. 

*  To  form  an  idea  of  the  Chinaman  abroad  one  must  have  seen  him 
thirty  years  ago  in  California  and  particularly  in  the  Chinese  quarter  in 
San  Francisco.  There  he  and  his  progeny  swarmed;  but  without  bene- 
fit to  the  country,  for  he  does  not  breed  citizens,  but  only  Chinamen, 
who,  as  soon  as  they  have  amassed  sufficient  money,  will  sooner  or 
later  return  to  the  land  of  their  ancestors  ;  even  their  dead  bodies,  are 
sent  back ;  the  transport  of  which  is  effected  by  Chinese  insurance  com- 
panies. The  Chinaman  is  industrious,  economical,  persevering,  avaricious, 
sober  and  indefatigable  but  devoid  of  moral  sense,  and  his  soul  is 
profoundly  debauched — there  is  no  nobility  or  even  dignity  about  him. 
Wherever  he  comes,  it  is  as  a  devouring  locust  and  a  blood-sucker.  He 
is  either  keeper  of  an  opium-smoking  den,  of  a  gaming  hell  or  of  a 
brothel,  combining  with  any  occupation  he  may  exercise,  that  of  usurer. 
Jews,  with  all  their  astuteness,  cannot  compete  with  him,  and  where  he 
settles,  they  retire. 

The    United    States    now    actively    oppose    their  immigration,  and  the 
Australian  colonies  have  been  obliged  to  do  the  same. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  1 5 

At  Cho-lon,  the  Minhuongs  have  preserved  all  the 
habits,  manners,  and  customs  of  their  fathers,  and  you 
cannot  get  a  better  idea  of  a  real  Chinese  town  than 
by  seeing  Cho-lon. 

The  Chinese  Theatre.  The  women's  parts  are  played 
by  young  men,  who  are  brought  up  to  the  profession 
from  infancy.  To  such  perfection  do  they  imitate  the 
manners,  the  walk,  and  the  voice  of  a  Chinese  woman, 
that  it  is  difficult  to  tell  them  from  women.  They  even 
go  further,  and  play  the  part  of  women  in  other  ways. 
We  shall  mention  this  subject  in  discussing  the  perver- 
sions of  manners  in  the  Chinese  race. 

At  the  Chinese  theatre  they  play  tragi-comedies, 
and  heroic  melodramas,  and  you  see  heroines,  kings, 
ministers,  generals  and  their  armies,  buffoons,  dragons, 
tigers,  protecting  genii,  etc.  Terrible  combats  often 
take  place,  amidst  the  explosion  of  crackers.  There 
are  also  farces,  which,  in  the  matter  of  licence,  are  as 
far  beyond  the  Palais  Royal,  as  those  vaudevilles  are 
beyond  the  "  moralities"  of  Berquin.  Freedom  of  de- 
scription and  realism  are  carried  to  the  extreme.  1 
confess  to  having  passed  some  pleasant  evenings,  when 
an  obliging  Chinaman  was  kind  enough  to  translate 
the  plot  and  action  of  the  piece  to  me. 

For  their  great  family  festivals,  the  rich  Chinese  (and 
the  rich  Annamites  also)  engage  a  theatrical  troupe 
expressly,  and  build  in  front  of  their  houses  a  bamboo 
shed,  in  which  they  give,  during  at  least  three  days, 
a  performance  gratis  to  their  friends.  It  is  more  es- 
pecially at  these  representations  that  the  most  risky 
pieces  are  played, — if  the  taste  of  the  host  should 
happen  to  lie  that  way. 


CHAPTER  II. 

TTie  origin  of  the  Annamiles,  otherwise  tailed  Giao-Cht. — 
Anthropological  characteristics  of  the  race.—  Genital  organs  of  the 
A  nnamites.  —  T^eir  small  size. —  The  child  taken  as  a  basis  of 
comparison  for  the  medical  part  of  this  subject. —  The  little  Annam- 
ite  girl  and  her  early  loss  of  virginity.  -  Woman  at  the  age  of 
puberty. —  Tlte  genital  organs  of  the  adult. — Franco- Anuamite 
mongrels. 

The  Origin  of  the  Annamites,  otherwise  called 
Giao-Chi. '  According  to  the  learned  father  Le  Grand 
de  la  Liraye,  the  Annamites  date  nearly  as  far  back 
as  the  Chinese  ^  themselves,  "  Two  thousand  two  hun- 
dred and  eighty  years  before  Christ,  that  is  to  say 
less  than  a  century  after  the  deluge,  mention  is  found 
of    the    Giao-Chi,    an    aboriginal    race    inhabiting    the 

'  Giao-Chi,  literally  "  Big  Toe  "  race — a  still  marked  feature,  for  the  toe 
is  now  used  like  a  thumb.  (See  Forlong's  Short  Stridies  in  the  Science 
of  Comparative  Religions.  London,  1897,  page  74.)  This  work  is  a 
mine  of  information  and  deserves  the  attention  of  every  searcher  into 
the  origins  of  the  historic  Faiths  of  Humanity. 

'  The  primordia  of  alL  countries  are  enveloped  in  much  that  is 
obscure  and  fabulous,  and  it  is  extremely  difficult  for  the  historian  to 
fix  the  period  when  civil  history  had  its  beginnings.  China  is  no 
exception,  but  there  can,  I  think,  be  no  doubt  of  the  antiquity  of  the 
Chinese  Empire.  It  is  not,  I  believe,  rash  to  say  that  it  has  survived 
a  period  of  four  thousand  years,  without  having  undergone  any  great 
change  either  in  the  laws  by  which  .it  is  governed,  or  in  the  speech 
manners,    and    customs    of    its    teeming    population."      (Gray's    "China" 

vol  1,  London,    1878.) 

16 


UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY.  1 7 

southern  confines  of  the  Chinese  Empire,  and  which 
became  the  parent  stock  of  the  Annamite  race.  It 
originally  formed  part  of  the  Chinese  Empire,  and  only 
gained  its  independence  in  1428,  by  the  general  mas- 
sacre of  the  Chinese.  Annam  has  borrowed  everything 
from  China;  language,  education,  literature,  religion, 
law,  medicine,  and  arts.  Thus  it  gives  birthright  and 
citizenship  to  all  the  Chinese  who  come  to  trade  in 
Indo-China. " 

The  Annamite,  it  will  be  seen,  is  not  a  savage,  on 
the  contrary  his  civilization  dates  further  back  than 
that  of  the  European,  but  he  also  possesses  a  formid- 
able number  of  vices,  which  he  conceals  from  the  eyes 
of  an  inattentive  observer,  but  which  you  discover 
when  you  come  to  study  the  race  closely. 

Anthropological   Attributes    of  the  Race.     The 

Annamite  is  thus  a  separate  branch  of  the  yellow  Chinese 
race.  He  is  under-sized,  nervous,  but  of  a  weak  ap- 
pearance, often  thin,  and  not  muscular.  The  lower 
limbs  are  often  bent,  on  account  of  the  mothers  car- 
rying their  children  astraddle  on  their  hips.  Their 
walk  is  ungraceful,  and  the  foot  is  often  turned  out; 
the  great  toe  is  far  separated  from  the  others  and 
almost  opposable.  Thus  an  Annamite  can,  like  a 
monkey,  pick  up  a  piece  of  money  from  the  ground,  or 
hold  the  rudder  of  his  boat  with  his  toes.  The  pelvis 
is  not  well  developed,  the  bust  long  and  thin,  the 
chest  thrown  out,  and  well-formed.  The  hands  are 
long  and  narrow,  and  the  points  of  the  fingers  knotted. 
There  is  but  little  strength  in  the  muscles,— a  white 
man  could  thrash  ten  Annamites  with  his  fists,— but  they 
endure  fatigue  very  well,  and  can  withstand  the  heat 
of  one  of  the  most  unwholesome  climates  in  the  world. 


1 8  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS   OF 

The  skull  is  round,  and  brachy-cephalous.  The  face 
is  a  very  long  oval,  almost  lozenge  shaped.  The  fore- 
head is  low,  the  eye  oblique,  and  raised  at  the  external 
extremity,  the  eyelids  long,  and  covering  black  pupils. 
The  Annamite  has  excellent  sight.  The  cheeks  rise 
towards  the  temples ;  the  nose  is  almost  as  flat  as  that 
of  the  Negro,  very  large  at  the  root,  but  the  lips, 
however,  are  not  so  thick.  The  mouth  is  of  an  average 
size,  the  chin  short,  and  the  ears  large  and  projecting. 

The  teeth  would  be  magnificent  if  the  practice  of 
lacquering  them  with  black  varnish,  and  the  red  froth 
caused  by  betel  chewing,  did  not  render  the  mouth, 
of  even  the  most  beautiful  Annamite  woman,  frightful. 
However,  you  get  used  to  it  in  time. 

The  facial  angle,  in  both  sexes,  is  77°.  The  beard 
makes  its  appearance  very  late, — towards  the  thirtieth 
year, — is  short,  hard,  and  stiff  like  horsehair,  and  grows 
only  on  the  lips  and  chin.  The  hair  is  black,  long, 
and  very  thick,  it  closely  resembles  a  horse's  tail,  and 
often  falls  below  the  hips.  The  men  and  women  both 
wear  it  in  a  chignon,  raised  up  behind  the  head.  The 
skin  is  thick ;  the  colour  varies  according  to  the  caste, 
from  the  mahogany  or  dead-leaf  tint  of  the  peasant 
who  is  burned  by  the  sun,  to  the  pale  yellow  wax 
hue  of  the  mandarin,  who  never  goes  out  without  an 
enormous  umbrella,  the  mark  of  his  position,  extended 
over  his  head. 

If  the  Annamite  woman,  or  Congai,  is  displeasing 
on  account  of  her  flat  face,  and  her  black  mouth 
with  its  red  saliva,  it  must  be  confessed  that  her  body 
is  well-made  and  well-proportioned.  When  once  you 
are  used  to  the  shape  of  the  face,  you  may  often  find 
women  with  pretty  features.  The  hands  and  feet  are 
excessively  small,  and  the  ankles  and  wrists  slender. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  1 9 

Annamites  of  both  sexes  develop  slowly,  and  a 
young  man  of  twenty  does  not  appear  to  be  more 
than  fifteen;  if  it  were  not  that  the  ears  are  not 
pierced,  you  would  often  take  a  youth,  of  from  fifteen 
to  twenty  years,  for  a  girl  not  yet  formed,  and  the 
sweetness  of  the  voice  increases  the  illusion.  After 
the  age  of  twenty,  the  features  of  the  man  grow  larger 
and  harder. 

In  the  pubescent  girl,  the  breast  is  hemispherical, 
and  very  regularly  formed ;  it  hardly  begins  to  develop 
before  the  seventeenth  year ;  for  a  long  time  it  remains 
small  and  hard,  but  during  gestation  and  the  period 
of  suckling  increases  to  a  considerable  size  and  be- 
comes soft,  though  still  retaining  its  horizontal  position. 
The  nipple  is  usually  brown.  The  first  birth  ordinarily 
takes  place  at  twenty  or  twenty-one  years  of  age.  The 
women  are  very  prolific,  and  you  often  find  families 
of  from  six  to  ten,  or  even  twelve,  children,^  half  a 
dozen  being  the  average.  There  are,  however,  few 
twins.  This  fecundity  is  ver}^  remarkable  considering 
the  smallness  of  the  genital  organs  of  both  sexes. 

About  the  fortieth  year  the  "  periods  "  cease.  The 
Annamite  race  ages  very  quickly;  at  fifty  years  a 
man's  beard  is  quite  white,  and  he  is  broken  down 
by  age ;  however,  there  are,  as  in  Europe,  octogenar- 
ians, and  even — it  is  said — centenarians.  I  must  con- 
fess that  I  never  saw  one. 

The  Genital  Organs  of  the  Annamites. — Their 
Small   Size.     A   fact   which    struck   me  as  soon  as  I 

'  Dr.  Alexander  Wilder  was  of  opinion  that :  "  Every  woman  has 
the  capacity  of  producing  twenty  or  more  children.  (The  Countess  of 
Winchester  and  Nottingham,  Anne  daughter  of  Christopher, 
Viscount  Hatton,  had  thirty  !  —See  the  Saturday  Magazine,  February 
8th,    1834). 


20  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

began  to  examine  closely  the  genital  organs  of  the 
Annamites,  was  their  really  remarkable  smallness, 
which  is  quite  in  keeping,  however,  with  the  weakness 
of  their  bodies,  and  debility  of  their  muscles.  From 
this  special  point  of  view,  the  Annamites  may  be  said 
to  occupy  the  lowest  place  amongst  all  the  races  we 
shall  study,  and  if  we  may  call  the  Negroes  of  Africa 
men  stallions,  it  would  be  just  as  logical  to  call  the 
Annamites  men  monkeys. 

They  deserve  this  appellation  in  two  ways,  the 
monkey  being  of  all  animals  the  one  that  has  the 
smallest  genital  organs  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  its 
body.  The  monkey  is  also  the  only  animal  which 
masturbates  intentionally ;  another  point  of  resemblance 
to  the  human  race.  The  Annamite,  one  of  the  oldest 
of  civilized  beings,  is  as  lascivious  as  the  monkey. 

Annamite  Children.  Let  us  commence  with  the 
examination  of  the  genital  organs  in  infancy,  which 
can  be  done  without  any  offence  to  morals,  girls  and 
boys  going  completely  naked  until  the  age  of  twelve 
years.  Before  that  age,  the  penis  of  the  little  boy  is 
hardly  the  size  of  his  little  finger,  and  the  finger  of 
an  Annamite  child  is  not  large.  They  do  not  arrive 
at  puberty  before  fourteen  or  fifteen,  which  is  as  late 
as  in  Europe.  At  that  age  the  penis  is  as  large  as 
the  forefinger  of  a  European.  The  complete  develop- 
ment of  the  genital  organs  is  hardly  effected  before 
the  twentieth  year,  and  sometimes  even  later.  The 
foreskin  of  the  young  Annamite  is  of  the  average 
length,  and  does  not  form  a  cushion  in  front  of  the 
gland,  as  is  characteristic  in  the  Negro  races  of  Africa. 
But  the  preputial  ring  is  generally  narrow.  As  nearly 
all    the    boys   practise    masturbation    from    the   age  of 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  2 1 

fourteen  or  fifteen  years,  this  ring  enlarges,  and  permits 
the  free  egress  of  the  gland. 

The  little  girl  has  the  vulva  placed  very  high, 
higher  even  than  it  is  in  the  little  French  girl.  When 
she  is  nubile,  which  is  hardly  before  the  fifteenth  or 
sixteenth  year  (the  average  age  is  sixteen)  there  is  no 
great  change  in  the  appearance  of  these  parts. 

The  Little  Annamite  girl,  and  Her  Early  Loss  of 
Virginity.  In  all  the  little  girls  of  less  than  ten  years 
of  age  I  found  the  hymen  present.  After  ten  years  the 
complete  hymen  is  often  wanting,  but  the  genito-urinary 
organs  then  present  certain  traces  of  defloration,  though 
much  less  characteristic  than  those  noted  by  Tardieu  in 
the  case  of  little  girls,  victims  of  indecent  assaults  without 
violence  but  repeated  during  a  long  period.  In  that 
case  the  hymen  was  not  usually  destroyed,  but  simply 
rendered  thinner,  and  drawn  back,  and  having  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  mere  ring  surrounding  the  entrance  to  the 
vagina,  and  which  allowed  the  extremity  of  a  greased 
forefinger  to  be  inserted  without  causing  pain. 

I  attribute  this  simply  to  the  fact  that  the  little 
Annamite  girls  are  deflowered,  after  ten  years  of  age, 
by  the  little  boys  with  whom  they  play,  and  repeat 
together  the  lessons  which  their  parents  have  uncon- 
sciously taught  them,  on  account  of  the  forced  promis- 
cuity of  the  family  in  a  little  thatched  house,  where 
all  the  family  live  in  common,  and  where  mere  parti- 
tions in  wicker-work,  the  height  of  a  man,  form  the 
only  divisions  of  the  rooms. 

Besides,  there  is  an  Annamite  proverb  of  brutal 
cynicism,  which  I  heard  at  Tonquin :  "  For  a  girl  to 
be  still  a  virgin  at  ten  years  old,  she  must  have  neither 
brothers  nor  father." 


2  2  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

The  Annamite  Woman  at  the  Age  of  Puberty. 

At  the  age  of  puberty  the  organs  assume  their  full 
development,  and  a  girl  is  nubile  at  sixteen  years. 
The  pubes  is  covered  with  some  hair,  which  is  carefully 
pulled  out,  and,  taken  on  the  whole,  the  genital  organs 
are  less  developed  than  in  the  French  woman.  The 
vulva  and  the  vagina  are  markedly  narrower,  and  much 
shallower. 

In  the  woman,  and  the  pubescent  girl,  the  vulval 
and  vaginal  mucous  membranes  are  generally  the  seat 
of  that  disagreeable  affection  known  as  the  "  whites  " 
or  "the  flowers,"  and  which  contributes,  by  the  relax- 
ation it  causes  in  the  tissues,  to  dilate  the  organ. 
Thus,  in  spite  of  the  disproportion,  copulation  between 
a  young  Annamite  and  an  adult  European  can  gener- 
ally be  effected  without  too  much  pain  for  the  first 
named.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  Congai — already 
a  fully  developed  woman — always  has  the  clitoris  but 
imperfectly  formed,  as  well  as  the  little  lips,  which 
seldom  project  beyond  the  large. 

The  prostitutes  of  the  public  brothels,  who  have 
fi'equent  connection  with  Europeans,  have  the  entrance 
of  the  vulva  and  vagina  greatly  enlarged.  Generally, 
however,  that  is  placed  very  high  and  the  average 
depth  of  the  vaginal  passage  does  not  exceed  2>\  or 
4  inches.  It  often  happens  that  a  penis  of  more  than 
average  length  will  cause  inflammation  of  the  womb, 
by  the  repeated  shock  of  the  gland  against  the  nose 
of  the  tench. 

I  have  treated  many  women  for  this  complaint,  who 
have  confessed  that  it  was  owing  to  this  cause. 

The   Genital   Organs   of  the   Adult.     It   is  but 

natural   that   we  should  find  in  the  adult  Annamite  a 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  23 

slender  penis,  in  proportion  to  the  small  dimensions 
of  the  feminine  organs.  The  pubescent  youth  of  from 
15  to  20  years  of  age  has  some  hair  growing  on  the 
pubes  round  his  member.  The  testicles  are  exceedingly 
small  until  the  fifteenth  year,  and  increase  in  size 
little  by  little;  but  at  twenty  the  Annamite  is  hardly 
more  formed  than  a  European  of  15  or  16,  and  his 
development  is  not  complete  until  he  is  25  years  old. 

At  its  full  growth,  the  penis  has  an  average  length 
of  from  4  to  4-^  inches  (in  full  erection)  and  a  diameter 
of  an  inch  and  a  quarter.  They  may  be  found  5 
inches  to  5-^  inches  long,  with  a  diameter  of  i^  to 
if  inches,  but  few  attain  a  length  of  6  inches,  and  a 
diameter  of  1^  inches.  I  once  met  with  a  penis  of 
7-^  inches;  but  that  was  on  a  Franco- Annamite  half- 
breed. 

Usually  the  testicles  of  an  Annamite  of  pure  breed 
are  the  size  of  a  pigeon's  egg.  The  pubes  bears  some 
stiff  and  bushy  hair,  like  that  which  grows  on  their 
chins  after  the  thirtieth  year. 

Franco- Annamite  Half-breeds.  There  are  very 
few  persons  of  half-breed,  for  there  is  not  much  copu- 
lation between  the  two  races,  and  still  less  production. 
Moreover,  it  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  the  white  race 
which  is  very  prolific  with  the  black  woman,  is  much 
less  so  with  the  yellow  woman.  I  cannot  explain  the 
cause,  but  content  myself  with  noting  the  fact.  It  is 
a  matter  for  regret,  for  the  Franco-Annamite  half- 
breed  physically  resembles  the  European.  The  skin 
is  almost  white,  the  shoulders  squarer,  the  muscles 
more  developed,  and  above  all  the  genital  organs 
larger.  The  face,  however,  preserves  the  indelible  stamp 
of  the  yellow  race,  in  the  flat  nose,  and  the  oblique  eyes. 


24  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

From  the  moral  point  of  view,  the  half-breed  is  a 
real  Annamite,  as  much  of  a  gambler,  thief,  and  liar, 
as  the  native.  The  young  man  I  have  just  mentioned 
as  possessing  the  large  penis,  was,  I  was  informed, 
the  son  of  an  officer  of  the  Expeditionary  Corps;  he 
had  received  a  certain  amount  of  education,  and  on 
leaving  the  Colony,  his  father  left  him  assured  means 
of  existence.  Women,  baquan,  and  opium,  soon  ruined 
him,   and  he  ended  his  life  miserably. 


i 


CHAPTER  III. 

Woman's  place  in  Annamite  society. — Marriage.  —  The  legal  age. 
— Rights   and  duties   of  the  Annamite  woman.  —  Her  character. 
— Adultery. — Its    repression.— Left-handed    marriages. — Love    of 
children. 

Woman  in  Annamite  Society.— Marriage.— The 
Legal  Age.  Although  the  Annamite  woman  is  not 
nubile  till  about  the  sixteenth  or  seventeenth  year,  as 
I  have  already  said,  she  may,  however,  according  to 
the  Ly-Ky,  or  "  Book  of  Rites, "  marry  after  fourteen 
years,  and  the  man  at  sixteen.  Any  marriage  prior 
to  those  ages  is  null  and  void. 

Marriages  are  arranged  through  the  mai-dongs,  or 
matrimonial  agents,  who  bring  the  two  families  together, 
and  arrange  the  question  of  the  wedding  portion.  But 
the  woman  does  not  bring  her  husband  any  marriage 
portion,  and  it  is  he,  on  the  contrary  who  pays  for 
the  wedding  presents,  brings  to  the  common  lot  his 
fortune  of  rice  fields  and  cattle,  and  often,  indeed,  has 
to  pay  a  sum  of  money  to  the  wife's  family. 

In  return  he  is  generously  presented  with  a  tobacco 
jar,  a  box  for  betel,  and  a  cigarette  case; — he  has  no 
other  compensation. 

Weddings  are  distinguished  by  a  pastoral  simplicity ; 
the  future  husband  and  wife  meet,  mutually  offer  them- 
selves to  each  other,  and  chew  betel  nut  together. 

25 


26  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

Rights   and  Duties  of  the   Annamite  Woman. 

Custom  has  given  the  Annamite  woman — although  her 
husband  has  paid  for  her — certain  rights  which  the 
Frenchwoman  does  not  possess.  In  fact,  as  she  is  more 
intelligent,  and  more  industrious  than  the  man,  she 
looks  after  almost  everything.  She  works  constantly, 
keeps  the  shop,  goes  to  market,  decorticates  the  rice, 
picks  the  cotton,  attends  to  the  poultry,  weaves  the 
cloth,  works  in  the  sun  like  a  man  transplanting  the 
rice,  does  the  cooking,  and,  in  sea-faring  families, 
steers  the  boat. 

Character    of  the   Annamite   Woman.     She   is 

the  "  grey  mare  "  of  the  household,  but  she  is  as  lying 
and  deceitful  as  her  husband,  and  a  gambler  and 
glutton.  She  is  as  lascivious  as  the  man,  and  betrays 
her  husband  whenever  she  can,  if  she  finds  pleasure 
or  amusement  in  it.  I  will  presently  show  the  picture 
of  the  Annamite  woman  married  morganatically  to  a 
European ; — he  always  plays  the  part  of  George  Dandin.^ 

Adultery.— Its      Repression.  ^       The    Annamite 

1  George  Dandin,  one  of  the  characters  of  Moli^re,  an  easy-going,  good- 
natured,  rather  dull-minded  model  of  a  husband. 

Moli^re,   George  Dandin,   i.  9, 

'  The  eminent  criminal  anthropologist  M.  Guillaume  Ferrero,  says : 
"  To-day  the  penalties  enacted  against  adultery  in  the  different  modem 
codes  are  very  mild ;  they  do  not  exceed  a  few  months  imprisonment. 
But  if  the  law  is  mild,  customs  are  still  brutal,  at  least  partly  so ;  for 
in  reality  the  adulteress  often  meets  with  her  death  at  the  hands  of  her 
husband,  who  kills  the  guilty  woman,  and  is  acquitted  by  the  jury.  In 
Italy,  particularly  of  late,  the  acquitals  of  such  uxoricides  have  been 
very  frequent :  which  shows  that  public  opinion  still  considers  death  as 
a  deserved  punishment  for  adultery.  Judges,  jurists,  and  criminalists 
all  protest  against  this  barbarous  custom ;  but  jurors  are  none  the  less, 
in    these   absolutions,    the    interpreters   of   public    feeling,    which   on  this 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  2"] 

woman  does  not  live  shut  up,  like  the  Chinese  woman, 
and  does  not  have  her  feet  tortured  into  uselessness. 
She  has  thus  every  facility  for  making  a  cuckold  of 
the  man  to  whom,  on  her  wedding  day,  she  promised 
fidelity.  At  Saigon,  and  in  the  neighbouring  villages, 
morals  are  very  lax,  and  a  man,  who  appreciates  yellow 
women  with  black  teeth,  can  have  his  pick.  In  the 
interior,  I  have  not  found  much  reserve  in  regard  to 
the  foreigner,  especially  if  he  is  generous  and  discreet. 
The  law,  however,  punishes  adultery  with  severe 
penalties.  Like  the  French  Penal  Code  (before  the 
Divorce  Law)  it  excuses  a  husband  who  kills  his  wife 
and  her  paramour,  if  taken  in  the  act  of  adultery.  I 
never  heard  of  an  instance  of  this  during  my  five  years' 
residence,  although,  it  may  be  added,  such  punishment 
has  been  witnessed  by  others.  Archdeacon  Gray  reports 
a  case  of  severe  flagellation  that  he  saw  in  China  (the 
Annamites  took  their  code  of  law  from  the  Celestials) ; 
we  give  his  graphic  narrative  in  his  own  words  : 

"In  1870,  I  saw  a  young  man,  apparently  not  more 
than  twenty-one  years  of  age,  and  his  paramour  flog- 
ged through  the  streets  of  one  of  the  suburbs  of  Can- 
point   is   very   conservative,   as  it  is  in  all  that  concerns  sexual  customs. 

The  legislation  on  adultery  has  therefore,  up  to  the  present,  been  what 
may  be  called  a  passional  legislation ;  that  is  to  say  one  that  was  actuated 
by  the  sexual  passion  and  jealousy  of  the  male,  which  took  neither  into 
account  the  individual  gravity  of  the  fault,  nor  its  social  importance.  It 
struck  blindly.  What  basis  therefore  could  be  given  to  a  rational 
legislation  on  adultery. 

To  solve  this  problem,  it  is  first  of  all  necessary  to  examine  the 
different  types  of  the  adulteress.  There  are  two,  the  characters  of  which 
are  well  defined  and  differentiated :  adultery  which  may  be  called  vicious, 
and  adultery  that  might  be  styled  casual.  For  these  two  types  the 
penalty  cannot  be  the  same." 

Le  Crime  d'Adultere,  son  passe,  son  avenir,  par  Guillaume  Ferrero. 
Paris. 


2  8  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

ton  in  a  most  unmerciful  manner.  His  arms  were 
bound  behind  his  back,  and  the  upper  part  of  his 
body  was  naked.  Immediately  behind  him  came  the 
woman,  apparently  about  thirty  years  of  age.  Her 
arms  were  also  bound  behind  her  back,  and  she  was 
receiving  quite  as  severe  a  castigation.  They  had 
been  seized  by  the  woman's  husband — a  play-actor — 
and  two  of  his  friends,  and  handed  over  to  the  elders 
of  the  district.  At  a  meeting  of  this  body,  which  took 
place  at  noon  on  the  following  day,  some  were  of 
opinion  that  the  guilty  pair  ought  to  be  bound  hand 
and  foot  and  cast  into  the  Canton  river.  But  the 
majority  resolved  that  they  should  be  flogged  through 
the  principal  streets  of  the  suburb.  When  the  flog- 
ging was  over,  the  youth,  whose  name  was  Laong-a- 
Ying,  was  permitted  to  return  to  the  house  of  his 
widowed  mother.  The  adulteress  was  sold  by  her 
husband  for  the  sum  of  one  hundred  dollars  to  the 
proprietor  of  a  public  brothel.  I  visited  the  youth  on 
the  day  following  that  on  which  he  was  flogged,  and 
I  was  shocked  when  I  saw  how  fearfully  lacerated 
his  back  and  shoulders  were." 

It  may  be  remarked  here  that  the  punishment  of 
an  adulterer  by  beating  him  severely  with  rods, 
which  has  always  been  practised  by  the  Chinese,  was, 
it  would  appear  from  Diod.  Sic.  I,  89,  90,  also  usual 
with  Egyptians ;  while,  in  Rome,  under  Justinian, 
adulteresses,  as  in  some  instances  in  the  present  day 
in  China,  were  scourged. 

Before  passing  from  the  subject  of  this  chapter, 
which  I  do  with  a  sense  of  relief,  I  must  not  omit  to 
add  that  the  crime  of  adultery  is  looked  upon  by  the 
Chinese  as  more  heinous  when  it  is  committed  between 
persons  bearing  the  same  surname  ! 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  2q 

In  passing  it  is  interesting  to  note  with  Dr.  Jean- 
nel  ^  that  under  the  Roman  law  adulterous  women 
were  at  first  condemned  to  pay  only  a  fine  (TiT.  Liv. 
X  31),  to  exile  (TiT.  LiV.  XXV,  2);  later  they  were 
obliged  to  get  themselves  inscribed  at  the  town-hall 
(edile)  as  prostitutes  (JAC.  Ann.,  II,  85)  ;  or  to  follow 
the  profession  of  procuress  (SuET.  Tib.,  35).  Finally, 
if  Paulus  Diaconus  is  to  be  credited,  they  were  obliged 
to  abandon  their  persons  to  the  first  comer  to  the 
ringing  of  a  bell  in  a  house  of  ill-fame,  and  this 
custom  was  abolished  by  Theodorius  (Paul.  Diac, 
Hi'si.  niiscell.  VIII,  2). 

Moreover,  the  Annamite  Code  contains  the  following 
article:  '*  An  adulteress  shall  receive  ninety  bloivs  of 
the  rattan  tcpon  her  buttocks,  and  her  husband  may 
afterwards  marry  her  to  another,  or  sell  her  if  he 
pleases,  or  keep  her  in  his  house."  If  our  European 
women  could  look  forward  to  receiving  ninety  blows 
of  the  rattan  upon  their  white  posterior  rotundities, 
perhaps  fewer  husbands  would  be  wronged.  ^ 

The  Annamite  Code  also  says :  ''Shop?nen  zvho 
commit  adultery  with  the  wife  of  their  master,  shall 
be  treated  as  servitors  or  slaves,  and  punislied  by 
strangulation.''''  This  excellent  Code  does  not  do  things 
by  halves.  Another  article  appertains  to  shrews. 
"  Every  legitimate  wife  ivho  strikes  or  insults  her  hus- 

'  De     la   Prostitution  (Paris,    1868). 

*  M.  Mace,  the  well-known  ex  chef  de  la  siirete',  who  lately  pub- 
lished his  highly .  interesting  memoirs,  relates  therein,  that  a  lady  be- 
longing to  a  most  honourable  family,  but  hysterical,  and  married  to  a 
wealthy  gentleman,  used  now  and  then  to  quit  her  home,  and  hire  a  room 
in  a  lodging-house,  where  she  received  friends  of  her  husband  and 
sometimes  even  men  unknown  to  her,  without  accepting  anything  from 
them  and,  on  the  contrary,  would  treat  them  with  money  she  had 
abstracted  from   her  husband. 


30  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

band,  shall  be  punished  with  a  hundred  blows  of  the 
rattan,  and  may  be  repudiated.'"  It  will  be  noted  that 
it  is  a  little  cheaper  for  the  Annamite  woman  to 
cuckold  her  husband  than  to  scratch  him  or  tell  him 
disagreeable  truths. 

Left-handed  Marriages.  Besides  the  legal  union 
consecrated  by  the  marriage  ceremony,  an  Annamite 
is  entitled  to  take  as  many  concubines  as  he  wishes, 
without  any  formalities ;  but  the  children  born  of  these 
unions  have  the  same  rights  as  the  children  of  the 
legitimate  M'ife.  There  are  no  distinctions  as  to  "  natu- 
ral "   or  "  adulterine "   children  in  Cochin-China. 

While  on  this  subject  we  take  the  opportunity  of 
quoting  from  Gray's  valuable  book  on  China  an  ac- 
count of  a  most  extraordinary  case  of  marriage  and 
divorce  that  came  under  his  notice : 

"On  the  3rd  of  December,  1871,"  he  writes,  "I  was 
present  at  a  similar  wedding  between  a  man  named 
Pang  Wing  and  a  woman  named  He-asing,  both  in 
the  humbler  walks  of  life.  The  marriage  was  solem- 
nized at  the  house  of  the  bridegroom's  mother,  in  the 
Ma-choo-pow  street  of  the  western  suburb  of  the  city 
of  Canton.  The  mother  of  the  bridegroom,  who  was 
a  very  aged  woman,  was  in  articulo  mortis.  She  lay 
upon  a  bed  in  the  atrmm  of  the  house,  with  her  feet 
towards  the  door,  in  order  that  her  soul  upon  leaving 
the  body  might  have  free  exit  on  its  way  to  Elysium. 
The  ceremony  was  entered  upon  without  delay,  and 
duly  and  properly  gone  through.  What  a  scene 
ensued!  When  the  wedding  garment,  which  with  its 
wide  folds  enveloped  the  whole  body  and  arms  of  the 
bride,  was  removed,  it  was  discovered  that  she  was 
a   leper !     When   the  fact  was  disclosed,  a  number  of 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  3 1 

the  female  relatives  of  the  bridegroom,  gave  vent  to 
their  feelings  of  indignation  and  anger  in  howls  which 
made  the  welkin  ring.  They  then  turned,  as  if  actuated 
by  a  common  impulse,  towards  the  bride,  whose  ap- 
pearance was  now  ghastly,  to  pour  upon  the  unfortunate 
woman  a  torrent  of  the  keenest  invectives  and  most 
sweeping  vituperation.  The  poor  woman  at  last  looked 
towards  me  for  pity;  and  evidently  fearing  that  more 
serious  evils  might  befall  her,  she  earnestly  begged 
that  she  might  be  extricated  from  the  embarrassing 
situation.  She  was  at  once  divorced,  and  returned  to 
her  mother,  who  positively  refused,  however,  to  refund 
to  the  bridegroom  the  dowry  which  had  been  paid  by 
him  for  what  he  justly  considered  a  very  bad  bargain. 
A  part  of  the  sum  was  eventually  returned.  During 
the  scene,  the  bridegroom's  aged  mother,  who  "  lay 
a-dying,"  never  once  moved.  Indeed,  so  motionless 
was  she,  that  it  appeared  as  if  she  had  passed  away 
for  ever.  She  lingered  till  the  following  morning, 
having  witnessed  on  her  death-bed,  in  one  brief  hour, 
the  marriage  of  her  only  son,  and  its  singular  sequel, 
the  immediate  divorce  of  the  bride  whom  he  had  un- 
wittingly espoused."^ 

The  Love  of  Children.  The  Annamite  women 
are  very  fond  of  their  children,  and  lavish  on  them 
every  mark  of  tenderness.  They  embrace  them,  and 
press  them  against  their  breasts,  and  kiss  them — the 
kissing  is  a  drawing  in  of  the  breath  through  the  nos- 
trils, as  we  do  when  we  inhale  a  pleasant  odour. 

Abortion  is  very  rare.  Children  are  not  wrapped 
in  swaddling  clothes,  and  suckle  until  they  are  three 
or   four  years  old,— if  boys;  and  even  longer  if  girls. 

•  China  (Vol.   I.  pages   188—9)  I-ond.    1878. 


32  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

When  the  Annamite  child  can  walk  alone,  he  is  al- 
lowed to  run  free  in  the  sun,  almost  or  quite  naked, 
or  roll  in  the  dust,  or  wallow  in  the  mire.  He  has — 
until  he  is  ten  or  twelve  years  old — a  pot  belly,  which 
contrasts  strangely  with  his  weak  limbs.  After  he  is 
twelve  he  wears  a  ragged  pair  of  trousers,  and  an  old 
coat,  the  cast-off  garments  of  his  father,  and  then  goes 
to  work,  minding  the  buffaloes,  or  helping  his  parents 
to  cultivate  the  rice  field,  or  steering  the  sampan  or 
junk.  Girls  and  boys  mingle  promiscuously, —  with 
the  result  that  might  be  expected.  That  is  why  it  is 
rare  to  find  an  Annamite  girl,  of  more  than  ten  years 
of  age,  a  virgin. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Other  passions  besides  love  in  the  Annamite. —  Gambling. —  The 
Congai  and  the  Europeaii.  —  The  Chinese  gambling  dens.  —  The 
baqiian,  and  the  gaming  houses  of  Saigon.  —  The  passioji  for 
opium.  —  The  usual  allowance  of  an  opium  smoker. — Hozu  opium 
is  smoked.  —  The  resistance  of  the  human  constitution  to  the  con- 
tinued effects  of  opium.—  The  moderate  use  of  opium  and  its 
good  effects. —  The  nattire  of  the  pleasure  caused  by  opium. 

Other  passions  besides   love   in   the   Annamite. 

I  have  already  said  that  the  Annamite  has,  in  common 
with  the  Chinaman,  a  passion  for  gambhng.  The 
coolies,  and  the  common  people,  will  play  for  their 
daily  wages,  and  their  wretched  rags  of  clothes.  The 
Congai  is  even  more  addicted  to  the  vice  than  the  man 
is,  when  her  social  position  does  not  compel  her  to 
spend  all  her  time  at  work.  In  the  brothels,  the 
women,  whilst  they  are  waiting  for  "clients",  smoke 
their  cigarettes,  and  devote  their  energies  to  intermin- 
ably long  games. 

The  European  who  has  a  Congai  for  a  mistress,  will 
learn  to  his  cost  that  she,  like  the  others,  has  a  passion 
for  gambling.  Often,  on  a  holiday,  the  young  lady, 
dressed  in  her  finest  silk  robes  (three  or  four  one  over 
the  other)  and  wearing  her  ear-rings,  necklaces,  and 
bracelets  of  gold  and  amber,  will  start  off  to  spend 
the  afternoon  with  her  lady  friends  and  acquaintances. 

33 


34  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

She  will  return  towards  the  middle  of  the  night,  look- 
ing haggard,  and  with  her  head  bare,  her  hair  dishev- 
elled, and  her  face  and  hands  scratched  and  torn. 
Her  fine  robes  have  been  replaced  b}''  wretched  rags. 
Her  jewels  have  disappeared.  She  will  recount,  amidst 
sobs,  and  a  deluge  of  tears,  how  she  was  waylaid  on 
her  return  by  a  band  of  robbers,  who  have  not  onb.- 
outraged  her,  but  entirely  stripped  her. 

The  European  consoles  the  afflicted  damsel,  and  lodges 
a  complaint  with  the  police.  He  learns,  a  few  days 
later,  that  the  supposed  victim  had  been  playing  haqnan 
in  some  den  where  illicit  gambling  was  carried  on,  and 
had  lost  everything  down  to  her  shift.  Then  the  un- 
fortunate Pholan-za  (the  Annamite  pronunciation  of  the 
word  Franfais)  makes  a  mental  calculation  that  he  is 
1 80  to  200  piasters  out  of  pocket,  and  he  looks  for- 
ward, with  no  pleasurable  feelings  to  having  to  buy 
fresh  dresses  and  new  jewellery.  He  returns  home 
furious,  and  perhaps  gives  his  mistress  a  good  thrash- 
ing with  a  rattan,  and  turns  her  out  of  doors.  More 
often,  he  pays  for  the  sake  of  peace,  and  the  comedy 
is  played  over  again  very  soon. 

Baquan,  which  is  of  Chinese  origin,  is  in  Cochin- 
China  what  roulette  is  at  Monaco.  On  a  table,  or  even, 
in  the  low  gaming-houses,  on  the  ground,  is  spread 
a  cloth ;  on  this  cloth  is  placed  a  small  square  wooden 
table  with  the  four  fignres  i,  2,  3,  4,  written  in  Chinese 
and  French,  in  separate  compartments  down  each  side 
of  the  table.  The  stakes  are  placed  on  the  different 
numbers,  and  certain  special  stipulations  are  made  by 
means  of  a  small  red  or  yellow  card,  marked  with 
Chinese  characters,  which  is  placed  on  the  stake.  When 
the   stakes  are  laid,  the  croupier,  who  has  in  front  of 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  35 

him  a  little  heap  of  Chinese  sapecks  in  yellow  copper, 
shovels  a  number  of  them  into  a  tea-cup  without  a 
handle,  and  then  empties  this  cupful  in  the  middle  of 
the  table.  Another  croupier,  or  one  of  the  principal 
players  (it  is  his  privilege  if  he  chooses  to  claim  it)  is 
furnished  with  a  long  wand  with  which  he  counts  the 
coins  into  fours,  pushing  each  four  back  to  the  heap 
as  he  counts  it  out.  This  is  the  exciting  moment,  and 
while  this  counting  is  going  on,  the  third  croupier,  the 
banker,  keeps  up  a  monotonous  chant, — the  song  of 
victory  or  defeat.  At  the  end  of  the  counting  there 
are  one,  two,  three,  or  four  sapecks  over,  and  that 
determines  the  winning  number.  The  winners  gain 
three  times  their  stakes,  which  gives  the  banker  four 
chances  of  winning  to  three  of  losing.  This  continues 
for  hours  and  hours;  it  is  quite  as  much  a  passion  as 
roulette.  The  Chinese  croupier  is  so  skilful,  that  if  a 
large  stake  is  put  on  a  certain  number  before  the  coins 
are  put  in  the  cup,  you  may  be  pretty  sure  that  that 
number  will  not  turn  up.^ 

I  have  known  Europeans  who  spent  entire  evenings 
in  the  haquans  of  Saigon  and  Cho-lon,  and  who  often 
lost  hundreds  of  piasters.     Sometimes  a  rich  Annamite 

*  "  The  proprietors  of  these  gaming-houses  realize  large  sums  of 
money,  and  the  gamblers  are  frequently  ruined,  and,  driven  into  des- 
perate courses,  often  end  their  days  in  prison.  Sometimes  they  lose  not 
only  all  their  money,  but  the  clothes  they  are  wearing.  On  one  occasion, 
passing  the  door  of  a  gambling-house  near  the  temple  of  the  Five 
Genii,  at  Canton,  I  heard  a  great  noise.  Entering  the  establishment 
to  ascertain  the  cause,  I  found  the  conductors  of  the  games  actually 
engaged  in  stripping  the  clothes  off  a  man  who  had  staked  and  lost 
them.  The  unfortunate  man  was  then  dressed  in  gunny-bags  (a)  and 
turned  into  the  street."  (b\ 

[a)  Gunny  is  a  strong  coarse  kind  of  sacking.  [Ed.]  (*)  Gray's  "  China  " 
(vol.  I.  pp.   387—88). 


36  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

or  Chinese  gambler  will  take  the  bank  on  his  own 
account,  but  he  must  divide  his  profits  with  the  real 
banker. 

You  are  elbowed  by  all  sorts  of  people  in  these 
establishments,  and  are  sure  to  meet  the  boy  who  is 
risking  the  money  he  has  stolen  from  his  master,  the 
cook  who  is  spending  the  household  money,  and  certain 
persons  of  disgusting  morals,  in  search  of  their  prey. 

The  Passion  for  Opium.  But  the  most  terrible 
vice,  or  passion,  is  opium  smoking;  from  which  even 
the  European  can  hardly  hope  to  escape,  for  I  speak  from 
personal  experience.  When  the  French  came  to  Cochin- 
China,  they  found  the  use  of  opium  had  been  already 
introduced  by  the  Chinese.  The  first  Governor  of  the 
Colony  made  the  sale  of  opium  a  monopoly,  and  this 
monopoly  remained  for  twenty  years  in  the  hands  of 
the  Chinese,  w^ho  derived  a  considerable  profit  from  it; 
since  then  it  has  been  in  the  hands  of  the  Excise. 

It  seems  that  the  kilogramme  of  raw  opium,  which 
costs  the  Excise  sixteen  shillings  when  they  buy  it 
from  the  English  Government,  is  resold  to  the  con- 
sumer at  about  ten  pounds.     It  is  an  expensive  vice. 

The   Usual   Allowance   of  an   Opium  Smoker. 

A  tael  {\\  oz.  avoirdupois)  costs  two  piasters,  and  in 
skilful  hands  gives  an  average  of  about  lOO  pipes. 
This  makes  the  price  come  to  a  trifle  under  or  a  trifle 
over  the  penny,  according  to  the  rate  of  exchange  of 
the  piaster,  which  varies  from  ss.yd.  to  4S.5d.  In 
order  that  the  opium  should  produce  the  desired  effect, 
the  beginner  should  smoke  ten  pipes ;  with  less  than 
that  number  he  would  not  feel  much  effect,  but  above 
that  number  there  would  be  risk  of  intoxication. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  37 

I  have,  however,  known  an  European  (an  inebriate 
it  is  true)  who,  after  smoking  five  or  six  pipes,  fell 
into  a  torpor  which  lasted  forty-eight  hours. 

At  the  end  of  a  few  weeks,  the  tyro  in  opium  smok- 
ing will  already  be  able  to  take  his  twenty  pipes  a 
day — ten,  an  hour  after  each  of  his  two  principal 
meals — which  he  will  find  will  aid  digestion  quite  as 
well  as  a  first-rate  cigar  would.  If  the  smoker  would 
stop  at  that,  there  would  be  no  harm  done.  Unfortu- 
nately, he  increases  his  allowance  by  one  or  two 
pipes  almost  every  day,  and  soon  takes  his  thirty 
pipes  a  day.  This  already  means  an  expense  of  ;640 
a  year ;  but  confirmed  smokers  soon  exceed  that  num- 
ber, and  smoke  their  fifty  or  sixty  pipes  a  day. 

Nature    of   the    Pleasiire    induced    by    Opium. 

With  the  first  pipe  you  feel  a  sensation  of  gentle 
warmth  in  the  stomach,  and  this  pleasant  "  velvety  " 
feeling  lasts  all  the  time  you  are  smoking.  This  sensa- 
tion is  renewed  with  each  fresh  pipe,  and  when  you 
have  smoked  from  ten  to  fifteen  or  twenty — according 
as  you  are  habituated  to  the  use  of  the  drug— the 
heart  feels  happier  and  the  spirits  lighter.  All  mental 
cares  and  physical  pains  (especially  neuralgia)  vanish. 
The  body  feels  buoyant.  You  might  imagine  that  the 
air  which  surrounds  you  is  purer,  and  you  feel  a  pleas- 
ure in  breathing  it.  This  effect  is,  moreover,  most 
marked  when  the  lungs  are  oppressed  by  the  heavy, 
moisture-sodden  air  of  the  rainy  season,  but  which, 
after  opium  smoking  feels  like  the  soft  warm  air  of  a 
hot  bath-room. 

After  that  you  sink  into  a  sort  of  pleasant  idleness, 
and  your  physical  condition  is  exactly  analogous  to 
that   of  a  weak  invahd  enjoying  the  beams  of  a  radi- 


38  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

ant  spring  sun.  The  ideas  of  each  person  follow  their 
natural  course ;  the  brain  teems  with  thoughts  which 
crowd  upon  it,  and  you  can  easily  perform  intellec- 
tual work  which  would  otherwise  be  beyond  your 
capabilities. 


t 


i 


CHAPTER  V. 

Physical  love  amongst  the  Annamites. — Methods  of  copmation 
generally  used. — Asiatic  houses  of  prostitution. —  The  Annamite 
"  Bamboo"  .^The  dangers  of  Annamite  love  affairs. — Gonorrhcea 
and  syphilis. — The  Chinese  brothel. —  Chijiese  prostitution. —  T7ie 
whore-houses  of  Cho-lon. —  The  habits  of  old  Chinese  debauchees. 
—  The  Japanese  brothel.  —  Physical  characteristics  of  the  Japanese 
woman.  —  T7ie  Annamite  mistress  of  the  European. 

Physical  love  amongst  the  Annamites.  Physical 
love  amongst  the  Annamite  race  is,  before  all  and 
above  all,  a  contact  of— generally  very  dirty — mucous 
surfaces.  Amongst  no  people  in  the  world  is  there 
such  danger  of  physical  contamination. 

Marriage  is  for  the  Annamite  (and  in  that  he  re- 
sembles greatly  our  modern  civilized  peoples)  a  question 
of  business  and  the  procreation  of  descendants,  rather 
than  of  sentimental  love.  On  her  side,  the  woman 
has  not  generally  a  very  great  affection  for  her  hus- 
band, but  concentrates  all  her  love  on  her  children. 
Her  morals  are  also  very  lax,  and  the  chief  care  of  an 
Annamite  woman  is  not  to  be  caught,  and  as  she  is 
more  intelligent  than  her  husband,  she  may  be  relied 
on  to  cflfectually  hoodwink  her  credulous  spouse. 

The  most  Usual  Methods  of  Copulation.  The 
bed    of  the   Annamite    is   a    mere  hurdle  of  bamboos, 

39 


40  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

covered  with  a  flimsy  cloth.  Such  a  bed  is  not  very 
well  suited  for  the  classical  position  of  sexual  relations, 
— the  man,  on  the  top  of  the  woman.  The  French 
soldier,  when  he  visits  a  woman  in  one  of  the  brothels, 
and  rubs  his  knees  against  the  knots  and  wattles  of 
the  hurdle,  calls  this  "  going  to  the  bamboo."  ^  By 
extension,  the  same  term  is  applied  to  the  Annamite 
brothel. 

China  finds  herself  actually  in  the  same  situation. 
For  upwards  of  fifteen  years  she  was  being  mutilated 

*  Anthropological  students  will  be  struck  with  the  following  stiange 
habit  of  Australian  aborigines 

THE   POSITION    OF    THE    COUPLE   IN    COITUS    AND   THE    EXPULSION    OF 
THE    SPERMA    BY    THE    WOMAN. 

In  the  "  antbCOpOlOfliC  5er  ffiatUrslDdlfter  ".  by  Waitz-Gerland 
(vol.  VI  p.  715)  is  to  be  found  a  curious  description  of  the  customs 
of  the  natives  of  Vincent  Gulf,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Adelaide,  related 
by  von  Koehler,  which  is  to  the  following  effect :  "■  The  women  are 
thin,  with  pendent  breasts  and  the  genitals  very  far  backward,  so  that 
the  men  usually  accomplish  the  act  of  coition  from  behind."  In  answer 
to  the  question  whether  the  writer  had  been  able  to  see  the  act  of 
copulation  performed  before  him,  he  replied  in  the  affirmative,  supplying 
at  the  same  time  two  schematic  sketches  which  we  regret  being  absol- 
utely unable  to  reproduce  (Vide: — Zeitschrift  fiir  Ethnologie,\o\.yA\ 
[1880]  p.   87). 

With  regard  to  the  facility  of  obtaining  the  edifying  spectacle  of  a 
native  couple  giving  a  specimen  of  their  copulative  energy  in  broad  day- 
light the  bribe  of  a  glass  of  gin  to  both  parties  is  amply  sufficient,  and 
is  often  done  by  European  travellers  in  the  interior   "  for  fun !  " 

An  intelligent  and  very  trustworthy  observer,  Mr.  A  Morton,  confirms 
the  above,  having  been  several  times  a  witness  of  the  same.  He  further 
states  that  as  soon  as  the  act  has  been  accomplished,  the  female,  standing 
erect  with  her  legs  stretched  apart,  by  means  of  a  sudden  jerk,  con- 
trives to  violently  expel  the  semina  she  has  received.  It  seems  that 
this  custom  is  common  among  the  women,  in  order  to  avoid  the  natural 
consequences  which  might  probably  result. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  41 

by  a  fearful  civil  war,  such  as  the  world  has  seldom 
witnessed,  whilst  at  the  same  time  foreign  enemies 
attacked  the  country  and  imposed  upon  this  proud 
nation  the  most  humiliating  conditions,  and  it  has 
only  just  now  suffered  the  most  signal  and  stinging 
defeat  from  a  comparatively  insignificant  neighbouring 
power.  The  Flowery  Kingdom  continues  to  march  with 
giant  strides  from  downfall  to  downfall,  and  very 
powerful  changes  must  take  place  before  it  can  rise 
again  out  of  the  slough  into  which  it  is  now  plunged. 

The  cause  of  this  situation  is  the  illimitable  moral 
corruption  which  infects  every  grade  of  Chinese  so- 
ciety. Immorality  and  venality  have  cast  their  poisoned 
breath  over  the  people  and  their  rulers,  from  the 
humblest  constable  to  the  Emperor  on  his  throne,  and 
have  destroyed  all  energy,  all  force,  all  nobility  and 
all  manliness  in  this  sunken  nation. 

The  task  I  have  undertaken  is  to  expose  this  situa- 
tion in  all  its  phases,  in  the  hope  of  filling  up  a  great 
void  in  the  history  of  prostitution.  The  author  of  the 
work  entitled:  Work  and  the  Poor  in  London,  says 
at  the  beginning  of  a  note  on  prostitution  in  this  vast 
Empire  (page  129):  "China  presents  to  us  a  rich  and 
interesting  field  for  research;  if  our  information  were 
complete,  there  would  not  be  a  single  country  in  the 
world  about  which  so  interesting  a  study  could  be 
made  regarding  the  system  of  prostitution.  Unfor- 
tunately the  negligence  or  the  prudery  of  travellers 
has  been  such  that  we  possess  but  very  superficial 
knowledge  on  the  subject." 

The  task  is  difficult,  because  the  pen  often  refuses 
to  trace  the  gross  immoralities  that  the  writer  would 
like  to  expose,  and  modern  languages  are  reluctant 
to  describe  practices  which  so  deeply  offend  our  notions 


42  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

of  modesty ;  we  shall  therefore  endeavour,  as  mu  ch  as 
possible,  in  our  expressions,  to  keep  within  the  limits 
of  morality  and  of  propriety,  and  as  for  words  which 
could  with  difficulty  be  accepted  in  our  tongiie,  we 
shall  have  recourse  to  Latin  expressions. 

Pierre  Dufour,  in  his  Histoire  de  la  Prostitution, 
divides  it  into  three  classes : 

Hospitable  prostitution . 

Religious  prostitution. 

Political  or  legal  prostitution.^ 

Neither  of  these  three  divisions  can  be  applied  to 
Chinese  prostitution.  Hospitable  prostitution,  with  the 
exception  of  one  solitary  example,  is  unknown  in 
China,  and  religious  prostitution  has  never  existed. 
Williams  in  his  Middle  Kingdom  says: 

"A  remarkable  thing  in  the  Chinese  idolatry  is  that 
it  does  not  admit  of  the  divinisation  of  sensualism, 
which,  under  the  name  of  religion,  has  caused  to  be 
maintained  for  so  long  a  time  the  existence  of  infamous 
ceremonies  and  disgusting  orgies,  and  which  in  so 
many  other  idolatrous  countries,  weaken  the  intelligence 
and  sully  the  heart  of  the  devotees.  There  is  neither 
a  Ven7is  nor  a  Lakshini  in  the  list  of  the  Chinese 
divinities;  no  lamentations  in  honour  of  Thamnus,  no 

^  In  certain  countries,  when  a  traveller  arrived,  it  was  customary  to 
give  him  the  largest  hospitality,  including  not  only  board  and  bed,  but 
also  a  bed-fellow,  the  wife,  sister  or  daughter  of  the  host,  and  the 
host  would  have  felt  much  hurt  had  his  offer  been  rejected.  The 
custom  still  exist  in  some  parts  of  India.     This  is  hospitable  prostitution. 

Religious  prostitution  e.xists  to  this  day  in  India,  in  the  shape  of  the 
Nautch  girls,  attached  to  the  Hindoo  temples,  and  was  formerly  known 
in  ancient  Egypt  in   the  temples  at  Thebes  and  Memphis. 

Political,  or  legal  prostitution  is  simply  that  known  in  most  European 
countries  as  a  licensed  legal  institution,  subject  to  strict  government 
supervision  and  control. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  43 

parades  in  the  temple  of  Mylitta,  no  indecent  cere- 
monies in  honor  of  Durga  Puja.  The  Chinese  priests 
have  never  made  such  things  matter  of  religion,  and 
even  in  their  pagodas,  they  have  never  kept  nautch 
girls  as  in  the  Indian  temples,  nor  courtesans  as  at 
Corinth." 

Their  speculations  on  the  dualism  of  the  nature  of 
Yin  and  Yang  have  never  degenerated  into  an  abject 
veneration  of  the  li7iga  or  yoni  of  the  Hindoos,  or  for 
Amurn-Kevi,  of  which  coloured  representations  are  still 
to  be  seen  on  the  ruins  of  Thebes.  Although  in  word 
and  action  it  is  a  debauched  people,  the  Chinese  have 
however  never  attributed  vices  to  their  divinities,  and 
the  adorers  of  e?ijoyme7tt  (by  antiphrase)  have  never 
been  led,  from  depravation  to  depravation,  to  be  placed 
at  last  in  the  sacred  paths  beneath  the  protection  of 
a  goddess. 

Their  mythology  contains  few  accounts  of  the  amorous 
adventures  of  their  divinities,  such  as  swarm  in  the 
histories  of  the  Greek  and  Hindoo  deities,  and  which 
render  them  so  obscene. 

And  yet  legal  prostitution  exists  in  China  where  it 
is  regulated  by  severe  rules. 

The  Book  of  Laws  of  the  dynasty  of  Tsing,  actually 
reigning,  with  its  latest  modifications,  is  however  silent 
on  this  subject;  nor  do  we  any  more  find  anything 
in  the  other  books  specially  devoted  to  this  subject, 
and  the  Chinese  themselves  assert  that  with  them  pros- 
titution is  not  subjected  to  any  legal  disposition  wliat- 
ever. 

Asiatic  Houses  of  Prostitution.  Here,  as  in 
every  civilized  country,  women  arc  to  be  had  at  all 
prices,    and    to    suit    every    taste,    from  the  Annamite 


44  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS   OF 

"bamboo"  to  the  horizontale  ^  who  lives  in  her  own 
rooms,  and  is  the  kept  woman  or  mistress  of  some 
rich  Asiatic,  and  who  will  condescend  to  bestow  her 
favours  upon  you, — but  never  without  being  paid. 

Though  the  European  courtesan  was  for  a  long  time, 
a  rarity  in  the  Colony,  there  has  never,  even  during 
the  period  of  the  conquest,  been  any  scarcity  of  native 
women.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  the  wife  and  daughter 
of  the  vanquished  became  the  spoil  of  the  victor. 

We  may  divide  the  Asiatic  houses  of  prostitution 
into  three  very  distinct  categories. 

The  Annamite  "Bamboo."  We  will  use  the 
name  "bamboo",  which  the  soldiers  have  given  it. 
Here  there  is  no  luxury;  a  hut  open  to  all  comers, 
the  "hurdle,"  and  upon  it  a  cloth,  some  stools,  and 
a  few  lamps  giving  out  a  fetid  odour  of  cocoa-nut  oil. 

In  such  a  place,  you  would  expect  to  meet  with 
only  old  prostitutes,  but  it  is  quite  the  contrary.  You 
often  find  girls  hardly  yet  nubile,  of  only  sixteen  or 
seventeen  years,  who  have  been  sold  by  their  parents, 
or  mistresses.  The  average  age  of  the  inmates  is 
scarcely  more  than  twenty  years.  The  costume  of  these 
ladies  is  the  Annamite  costume  of  the  lower  classes; 
a  cotton  robe.  But  they  always  have  a  silver  necklace 
and  amber  ear-rings,  bought  out  of  their  first  earnings. 

When  she  first  comes  to  the  house,  the  "bamboo "  does 
not   know    a   word  of  French,  and  is  unversed  in  the 

*  "  Horizontale "  is  one  of  the  many  names  in  French  appHed  to 
ladies  of  easy  virtue.  It  refers,  of  course,  to  the  position  assumed  by 
them  in  the  carnal  act.  As  proof  of  the  decadence  of  European  morals 
—  French  being  the  tongue  still  spoken  in  all  European  Courts — we  give 
a  list  of  synonyms  used  to  designate  women  who  sell  their  love-favours, 
and  believe  it  will  considerably  interest  the  student  and  philologist. 
(Vide  page  87.) 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  45 

rites  of  Venus,  but  you  may  rest  assured  she  will 
quickly  learn  to  prattle  amiable  speeches,  and  make 
ultra-erotic  proposals  in  her  own  sabir,  for  she  is  in 
a  good  school  to  learn.  She  does  not,  however,  earn 
much  money  as  long  as  she  is  in  the  establishment, 
for  the  proprietor  of  the  brothel  takes  nearly  all  she 
receives.  The  tariff  at  the  "  bamboos  "  is  not  high ;  it 
varies  from  tenpence  to  a  half  piastre.  For  a  piaster 
you  can  have  the  right  of  sharing  the  bed  of  the  young 
woman  for  the  rest  of  the  night. 

It  must  be  confessed  that,  to  those  who  have  just 
come  to  the  Colony,  the  Congai  is  not  attractive.  In 
the  first  place  there  are  the  blood-red  froth  caused  by 
betel-chewing,  and  the  horrible  appearance  of  the  teeth 
covered  with  black  lacquer.  This  last,  however,  is 
with  her  a  mark  of  beauty,  as  is  also  the  hairless  pubes, 
which  also  tends  to  disgust  the  European.  The  Congai 
scorns  the  European  woman,  who,  she  says,  has  teeth 
like  a  dog,  and  hair  like  a  beast.  I  have  often  heard 
the  natives  make  this  remark.  Another  cause  of 
disgust  is  the  smell  of  the  Congai,  which  is  sut  generis, 
— an  awful  mixture  of  the  stenches  of  rancid  cocoa-nut 
oil.  sweat,  and  the  filth  of  a  dress  w^hich  is  never 
washed  for  fear  of  wearing  it  out.  This  smell  chokes 
you,  and  damps  even  the  strongest  venereal  desires. 
You  are  a  long  time  getting  used  to  it,  and  some 
courage  is  needed,  but  at  last  you  get  habituated  to 
it,  especially  if  you  have  the  luck  to  light  upon  a 
young  girl  with  a  well-formed  body,  and  whose  teeth 
are  not  yet  lacquered. 

The  Dangers  of  Annamite  Love. — Gonorrhoea 
and  Syphilis.  It  would  be  enough  if  the  Congai  were 
content   with    being   merely  repugnant.     But,  in  spite 


46  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

of  the  most  careful  medical  examinations,  it  is  far  from 
safe  to  have  anything  to  do  with  her.  In  the  first  place, 
she  is  almost  certain  to  have  the  "  flowers,  "  and  she 
gives  her  adorers  a  gonorrhoea  very  difficult  to  cure, 
especially  if  they  are  at  all  weakened  by  the  climate. 
Syphilis  is  also  very  common  amongst  this  race.  It 
is  not  within  the  province  of  this  work  to  give  the 
etiology  of  this  disease.  I  simply  remark  that  it  has 
taken  deep  root  in  the  country,  and  the  want  of  rational 
treatment  has  caused  its  ravages  to  spread.  The  fol- 
lowing remarks  from  Dr.  Schlegel's  small  tract  on  "  La 
Prostitution  en  Chine",  will  give  an  idea  of  the 
seriousness  of  this  subject: 

"  The  curse  attending  debauchery,  syphilitic  disease 
with  all  its  complications,  prevails  largely  in  China. 

The  flower-boat  girls,  as  a  preservative  against 
disease,  pour  out,  in  honour  of  tlie  gods,  one  half  of 
the  first  glass  of  wine  they  drink  with  a  guest.  How- 
ever, the  eifects  of  these  diseases  are  less  serious  than 
with  other  nations,  which  may  perhaps  be  attributed 
to  the  generally  lymphatic  temperament  of  this  people. 

Nevertheless,  on  the  other  hand  they  are  far  more 
injurious  to  the  general  health,  by  reason  of  the  deplor- 
able medical  treatment  employed  by  the  Chinese  doctors. 

There  are  doctors  in  China  who  devote  themselves 
specially  to  the  treatment  of  these  diseases.  They  are 
in  the  habit  of  placarding  on  the  wall,  near  to  their  door, 
the  remedies  they  have  employed  to  cure  their  patients, 
the  same  as  some  dentists  exhibit  a  quantity  of  the 
teeth  they  have  drawn.  They  boast  of  their  science 
and  of  their  remedies  in  pompous  and  bombastic  ad- 
vertisements pasted  on  the  walls. 

The  wording  of  these  advertisements  is  embellished 
with  expressions  of  the  most  inconceivable  obscenity. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  47 

We  have  seen  some,  among  others,  in  Canton,  in 
which  were  depicted  in  tints  the  difference  in  colour 
between  the  blood  of  the  eel,  of  the  ox,  of  man  and 
that  of  a  maiden  after  being-  deflowered.  Joined  to 
this  was  the  description,  and  clients  were  informed 
therein,  of  the  artifices  employed  by  prostitutes,  bawds 
and  brothel-keepers. 

Another  placard  advertised  pills  to  preserve  from 
syphilis  and  gonorrhoea ;  a  third  gave  a  description  of 
leprosy,  together  with  the  advice  of  doctor  N.  N.  .  .  . 
who  knew  how  to  cure  it  perfectly. 

Besides  Syphilis,  there  are  other  diseases  to  be  met 
with  in  China  which  have  long  since  entirely  disappeared 
from  Northern  Europe,  for  instance,  leprosy,  in  all  its 
forms,  and  elephantiasis;  the  former,  during  the  first 
stage  of  the  malady  is  called  via  focng,  and  in  the 
final  period  goes  under  the  name  of  lai  foeng  (in  the 
Emoi  dialect  tliai  ko).  The  Chinese  attribute  the  origin 
of  this  disease  to  a  criminal  assault  contrary  to  nature, 
committed  by  a  troop  of  soldiers  on  the  dead  body 
of  a  very  beautiful  woman  who  had  been  the  partner 
of  one  of  their  emperors.  The  symptoms  of  this  malady 
are  horrible.  A  few  days  after  the  inoculation  pricking 
begins  to  be  felt  on  the  face  and  hands,  and  the 
unfortunate  sufferers  are  continually  slapping  their  face 
and  head,  in  the  belief  that  they  are  covered  with  flies. 

The  evil  soon  gets  worse,  the  breath  becomes  fetid ; 
food  is  no  longer  digested,  and  the  body  is  covered 
with  pustules.  The  spaces  between  the  pustules  become 
wrinkled  and  like  leather.  The  hair  of  the  head  and 
the  beard  fall  ofi^,  and  the  hair  that  may  still  remain 
turns  white;  the  face  is  covered  with  hard  and  pointed 
tubercles,  sometimes  white  at  the  top  and  greenish  at 
their  base.     Pustules  break  out  all  over  the  hands,  the 


48  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

articulations,  the  chin  and  the  knees;  abscesses  are 
formed  on  the  cheeks  and  on  the  chest ;  the  teeth  turn 
black ;  the  skin  becomes  thick  and  cracks,  whilst 
pustules  by  hundreds  grow  bigger  along  the  borders 
of  the  crevasses.  It  is  during  this  culminating  period 
of  the  malady  that  the  patient  is  at  last  released  from 
his  torments  by  death. 

This  disease  is  supposed  to  be  incurable,  although 
it  is  asserted  that  certain  Chinese  physicians  know  how 
to  limit  the  eruption  it  produces  to  certain  parts,  for 
instance,  to  the  buttocks  and  the  thighs. 

As  soon  as  any  one  is  affected  with  it,  he  is  of 
course  driven  out  of  society,  so  that  all  that  is  left 
him  to  do  is  to  take  refuge  like  an  unfortunate  pariah 
among  those  who  are  similarly  afflicted,  and  to  earn 
his  liveHhood  by  begging. 

This  malady  is  very  frequent  at  Canton,  because 
there  it  is  aggravated  by  the  dampness  of  the  dwellings 
and  the  bad  ventilation  of  the  city ;  at  every  step  these 
unhappy  creatures  are  to  be  met  covered  with  livid, 
brown,  or  blackish  pustules,  supporting  themselves  with 
difficulty  by  the  aid  of  a  stick,  or  else,  to  the  disgust 
of  the  passer-by,  squatting  down  in  the  midst  of  the 
markets  and  public  squares. 

However,  as  a  general  rule,  these  unfortunates,  by 
reason  of  the  misery  in  which  they  exist,  descend  soon 
enough  into  their  grave. 

The  lazarettoes  existing  in  Canton  are  unable  to 
shelter  or  to  feed  these  unhappy  beings.  There  are 
two  hospitals  for  lepers ;  one  is  in  a  village  at  a  few 
hours  distance  from  the  city,  on  the  banks  of  a  river, 
and  where  lepers  only  are  permitted  to  reside. 

Notwithstanding  their  malady,  they  marry  among 
themselves.     The   children,    during   the  first  eleven  or 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  49 

twelve  years  of  their  existence  are  not  attacked  by 
the  disease,  which  does  not  touch  them  until  later. 
The  attempts  we  made  in  isolating  these  children  gave 
no  satisfactory  results ;  as  a  matter  of  course  the  malady 
can  only  increase  instead  of  diminishing. 

The  leper  hospital  situated  near  to  the  town  can 
contain  three  hundred  patients,  and  this  foundation  has 
to  subsist  on  an  annual  income  of  300  taeh  (1500 
florins),  a  sum  naturally  insufficient. 

The  Chinese  pretend  that,  by  means  of  the  following 
trial,  it  is  possible  to  recognize  the  presence  of  the 
leper  virus  in  the  blood,  even  when  the  infection  dates 
from  one  or  two  days  only ;  it  is  a  known  fact  that 
on  lighting  a  man's  face  by  means  of  the  flame  of  a 
bundle  of  tow  steeped  in  alcohol,  it  assumes  a  cadaverous 
hue;  the  Chinese  pretend  that  the  leprous  infection 
then  makes  it  appear  of  a  fiery  red. 

We  have  had  no  occasion  to  verify  this  fact,  but  it 
deserves  in  any  case  to  be  tried. 

Elephantiasis  is  also  very  prevalent  at  Canton,  and 
in  the  province  of  Chusan  it  is  still  more  common.  It 
appears  that  in  China  this  affection  does  not  always 
go  under  the  same  denomination,  but  that  the  name 
changes  with  the  different  symptoms  which  present 
themselves.  For  instance,  at  Emoi,  the  malady  mostly 
affects  the  scrotum,  hence  it  is  there  called  toa  laan  pha 
(big  scrotum);  if  it  descends  into  the  legs,  it  is  called 
Kha-ta  (dried-up  legs).  It  appears  that  it  is  then  more 
serious,  for  there  is  a  proverb  which  says:  Khaatii 
Kha-ta.  boe  Koa  thsa  (hast  thou  Elephantiasis,  go  buy 
thee  a  coffin);  in  Canton  they  call  it  tai scha  thai  ^\% 
foot  of  sand). 

Syphilis  reigns  particularly  along  the  coa.sts,  where 
it  was  imported  by  European  sailors. 


so  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

The  Chinese  who  know  it  well,  are  careful  to  isolate, 
for  the  exclusive  use  of  Europeans  the  women  with 
whom  they  will  no  longer  have  intercourse.  This  goes 
indeed  so  far,  that  when  the  British  troops  besieged 
Canton  in  1857,  the  Chinese  mandarins  drove  all  the 
prostitutes  of  the  environs  who  were  tainted  with  venereal 
disease,  towards  the  city;  in  order  to  infect  the  bar- 
barians as  they  called  them,  which  plan  succeeded 
only  too  well. 

Some  idea  as  to  the  dangers  of  this  disease  may  be 
obtained,    for    statistics^    show    that,    during   the  first 

*  The  question  of  staying  the  progress  of  this  disease  in  our  Indian 
Army  has  from  time  to  time  considerably  stirred  public  opinion.  LoRD 
DuNRAVEN  deserves  the  credit  of  having  recently  braved  the  country 
with  a  clear  statement  of  the  position.  In  two  powerful  speeches  in 
the   House  of  Lords.     See  the  ''Times"  of  May  15th  and  i8th,  1897. 

His  lordship,  in  an  able  speech,  quoted  the  following  stubborn  facts, 
from  the  official  report  drawn  up  by  the  military  medical  authorities  for 
the  Secretary  of  State : 

In  1887  there  were  362  soldiers  per  1000  admitted  to  hospital 
infected  with  syphilis,  in  1895  the  proportion  had  increased  to  537  per 
1000;  5"/o  of  effective  troops  had  been  sent  home  invalided  from  tliis 
cause;  45  per  1000  were  constantly  in  hospital,  under  treatment;  i3*/o 
were  rendered  unfit  for  service;  finally,  out  of  a  total  eflfective  British 
force  of  70,000  men  in  Indian,  20,000  were  known  to  be  contaminated, 
at  the  same  it  is  noted  that  the  virulence  of  the  disease  has  greatly 
increased.  But  the  most  appalling  fact  is  that  out  of  13,000  expired 
service  men  returning  every  year  to  England  nearly  one  half  are  more 
or  less  syphilitic,  and  liable,  if  they  marry  to  transmit  the  taint  to  their 
children. 

Compared    with    other   European    armies    the    British    troops    hold     the 
worst  place  in  this  connection  : 

27   per    1000  are  infected  in  Germany; 

44     „     1000     „  „         „    France; 

43     „      1000     „  „         „    Russia; 

65     „      1000     ,,  „  „    Austria; 

71     „     1000    „  „         „   Italy; 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  51 

twenty  years  of  the  occupation  of  the  country,  it  was 
the  cause  of  half  the  cases  in  the  hospitals,  that  is  to 
say,  as  much  as  marsh-fever,  cholera,  dysentry,  hepa- 
titis, and  the  special  diarrhoea  of  Cochin-China,  put 
together. 

But  let  us  conclude  the  description  of  the  Annamite, 
"bamboo."  If  she  is  pretty  and  intelligent,  as  soon 
as  she  has  learned  to  make  herself  understood  in  her 
polyglot  sabir,  has  acquired  certain  small  talents  of  a 
special  kind,  and  has  put  aside  a  few  piasters,  she 
leaves  the  brothel.  She  is  pretty  sure  to  find  a  hus- 
band, and  the  couple  install  themselves  in  one  of  the 
villages  round  Saigon,  and  the  disreputable  husband 
lives  on  the  proceeds  of  her  prostitution.  They  conceal 
their  real  character  by  pretending  to  do  a  small  trade 
in  fruit  and  various  other  productions. 

In  the  morning  the  woman  goes  to  the  market  of 
Saigon,  but  instead  of  returning  home  early,  as  a 
honest  tradeswoman  should,  she  visits  the  Europeans 
during  the  hour  of  their  siesta.  We  shall  shortly 
notice  how  she  works. 

The  Chinese  Brothel  and  "Flower  Boats  ".     The 

first  Chinese  harlots  came  from  Singapore,  about  i865 
or  1867.  The  Chinese  brothel  is  cleaner  than  the 
Annamite    "bamboo". 

The  women  attract  their  customers  in  this  way.  They 
sit  before  the  door,  under  the  shade   of  the   veranda, 

and  among  the  British  home  troops  : 

204  PER  thousand! 

We  would  advise  English  Non-conformist  Respectability,  which  strenu- 
ously opposes  all  preventive  measures,  prayerfully  to  study  these  figures 
fraught  with  the  terror  of  gloomy  portent. 

Dr.  Jeannel  {De  la  Prostitution,  page  158,  Paris  1868)  says  that 
England  dishonours  Liberty  and  belies  her  common-sense  through  her 
misplaced  tolerance  of  the  scandals  of  prostitution. 


52  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

and  gathered  round  their  ma?na,  the  proprietress  of 
the  brothel.  Inside  the  house,  near  the  door,  is  a  kind 
of  pubHc  saloon,  where  the  "clients",  seated  on  sofas 
of  rattan  or  bamboo,  select  the  girl  they  like  best, 
and  pay  their  court  to  her,  in  the  presence  of  the 
coloured  print  of  the  female  Chinese  Buddha  (the 
Goddess  of  Reproduction,  represented  as  a  huge  female 
with  enormous  breasts)  before  which  a  lamp  is  always 
kept  burning  as  an  offering. 

Having  made  your  choice,  you  ascend  to  the  first 
floor,  by  means  of  a  staircase  like  the  ladder  of  a 
mill,  fixed  on  the  back  wall  of  the  house.  On  this 
floor  there  are  a  lot  of  Chinese  beds,  almost  as  wide 
as  they  are  long,  and  modestly  covered  with  dark- 
coloured  mosquito  curtains,  which  conceal  the  temporary 
loves  of  the  occupants. 

The  opium  smoker  will  always  find  a  pipe  there, 
and  someone  to  prepare  it  for  him,  many  of  the  girls 
having  been  instructed  in  the  art.  Few  of  them  smoke, 
however,  though  sometimes  the  mavia  does. 

"  No  license  is  granted"  says  Schlegel  "to  the  owners 
of  Flozver-Boats  or  of  houses  of  ill-fame,  but  they  are 
permitted  freely  to  carry  on  their  trade.  The  Flower- 
Boat  girls  are  of  modest  appearance  when  in  public. 
In  their  dress  it  would  be  impossible  to  distinguish 
them  from  honest  women,  and  the  non-initiated  would 
hardly  be  able  to  discern  between  a  respectable  woman 
and  one  of  these  "  gay"  girls.  They  show  themselves 
in  a  proper  and  decent  manner.  So  that  it  is  only 
after  a  lengthened  stay  in  China  that  the  foreigner  is 
able  to  recognize  a  certain  unrestraint  in  their  manner 
and  dress. 

Their  profession  does  not  cast  an  indelible  stain  upon 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  53 

them,  for  they  may  be  taken  as  concubine  by  a  man 
of  the  world,  and  then  rise  again  to  an  honoured  po- 
sition. This  rehabiUtation  is  called  fsoeng-liang  (follow- 
ing the  good  path). 

The  houses  of  ill-fame  are  not  relegated  to  any  fixed 
place;  they  are  to  be  found  everywhere,  in  the  gayest 
and  finest  quarters  of  the  town,  their  blue  Venetian 
blinds  displayed,  and  on  the  rivers  are  the  floating 
houses  of  prostitution,  the  Flower-Boats,  which  mask 
the  houses  built  here  and  there  on  the  banks. 

They  have  however  to  put  up  with  the  extortions 
of  the  Mandarins,  and  under  the  most  trivial  presump- 
tion of  harbouring  criminals  their  inhabitants  may  be 
mercilessly  driven  out.  But  these  establishments  are 
none  the  less  a  source  of  profit  to  the  greedy  function- 
aries who  rule  in  China,  for  although  they  have  to 
pay  no  regular  taxes,  the  Mandarins  take  advantage 
of  the  first  favourable  occasion  to  extort  large  sums 
of  money  from  their  owners. 

The  actual  condition  of  prostitution  in  China  is  abom- 
inable. Although  the  criminal  laws  forbid  to  their 
functionaries  the  frequentation  of  these  houses  under 
pain  of  sixty  strokes  of  the  bamboo,  it  is  quite  common 
to  see  them  in  the  evening  wending  their  steps  to- 
wards the  Flower- Boats. 

The  merchants  and  private  individuals,  in  a  word, 
all  those  who  can  afford  to  pay,  follow  this  example. 
Decked  out  in  their  richest  raiments,  they  may  be  seen 
going  there,  even  in  broad  daylight.  Immorality 
prevails  to  such  an  extent  that  fathers  are  not  ashamed 
to  hold  the  most  obscene  conversations  in  presence  of 
their  children.  This  has  naturally  the  most  detestable 
influence  upon  them.  Young  Chinese  of  fi-om  7  to  8 
years   of  age  may  be  heard  talking  with  consummate 


54  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

knowledge  of  things  the  most  obscene,  and  the  filthiest 
expressions  are  ever  in  their  mouths.  As  they  advance 
in  years  so  grows  their  contempt  for  women,  for  as, 
according  to  Chinese  custom,  any  intercourse  between 
the  sexes  is  almost  impossible,  the  young  Chinese  lads 
hardly  ever  see  any  but  the  very  lowest  class  of  women. 
For  them,  woman  is  but  a  thing,  a  business  article,  a 
being  necessary  only  for  propagating  the  species  and 
for  the  satisfaction  of  the  passions. 

Compared  with  the  conduct  of  the  men,  that  of  the 
women  in  China  is  far  more  reserved;  we  may  how- 
ever, have  occasion,  during  the  course  of  this  study, 
to  show  some  facts  which  may  cast  a  shade  upon  this 
picture. 

The  houses  of  ill-fame  in  China  are  of  two  kinds: 
those  that  are  on  land,  and  those  on  the  water.  The 
first  are  to  be  met  with  everywhere,  the  others  exist 
only  along  the  banks  of  the  rivers. 

Those  situated  on  land  are  called  Tsing-lao  (blue 
houses). 

These  establishments  are  sumptuous  and  in  no  way 
inferior  in  richness  of  decoration  to  the  mansions  of  the 
most  wealthy  merchants  and  to  the  palaces  of  the  gov- 
ernors. We  find  in  a  Chinese  novel  forming  part  of 
the  "  Collection  of  tales  of  the  present  Time  and  of 
For7ncr  Days'"  entitled:  "  Tke  Business  in  Oil  that  had 
been  done  by  the  Pretty  Girl."  the  description  of  the 
front  of  one  of  these  houses: 

"  Before  him  was  a  house  which  he  examined  atten- 
tively ;  the  door  of  this  habitation  was  overlaid  with  a 
coating  of  gold-coloured  lacker,  and  made  of  elegantly 
worked  bamboo ;  within  it  there  was  an  enclosure  painted 
Vermillion,  flanked  by  a  rampart  of  fine-leaved  bamboos, 
so  that  it  was  impossible  to  see  into  the  house." 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  55 

This  building  which  here  served  as  a  Blue  House 
does  not  seem  however  to  have  been  erected  for  that 
destination,  for  we  read  further  on : 

"While   the  attendant  was  pouring  out  wine,    Tsin- 
tschoeng  asked  him :  '  who  resides  within  this  bamboo 
door  painted  with  golden  lacker  ? '    The  servant  replied : 
'  It  is  the  country-house  of  the  signior  Thsi,  but  it  is  at 
present  occupied  by  Mrs.   Wang-Kioe. '    Tsin-tschoeng 
continued:   T  have  just  seen  a  young  lady  enter  a  pal- 
anquin.    Who    is   she?'     'It  is  a  celebrated  courtesan 
named     Wang-ivei,    she    previously   dwelt   outside    the 
Yoen-Kin  gate,  but  as  her  lodging  was  cramped  and 
small,  a  son  of  the  signior   Thsi,  who  is  her  lover,  has 
let  this  house  to  her  for  six  months.' " 

This  shows  us  that  in  China,  people  feel  no  shame 
in  letting  out  their  country-houses  to  hire  for  purposes 
of  prostitution,  for  the  continuation  of  the  novel  shows 
us  that  several  Flower  Maidens  lived  in  the  house. 
These  establishments  in  Canton  and  in  Amoy  are 
slightly  different.  Contrary  to  the  other  buildings,  they 
are  generally  two  stories  high ;  the  interior  arrangement 
is  purposely  very  irregular.  The  upper  story  is  par- 
titioned off  into  little  rooms,  each  of  which  has  its 
female  occupant,  and  nearly  in  the  centre  is  the  saloon 
common  to  all,  embellished  with  the  richest  furniture 
and  paintings.  Another  thing  to  be  remarked  is  that 
the  ledges  of  the  roofs  of  these  houses,  in  Canton,  are 
not  horizontal  like  those  of  the  other  buildings,  but 
are  sloping.  The  reason  of  this  particular  architecture 
has  not  been  sufficiently  explained,  although  it  has  been 
attributed  to  the  influence  of  local  superstition  {/oe^ig 
schoet) ;  when  the  house  stands  alone,  it  is  surrounded 
by  a  gallery  closed  by  Venetian  blinds ;  if  it  is  situated 
between  other  houses,  the  gallery  only  exist  in  front. 


56  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

These  blinds  are  painted  blue,  whence  the  name  of 
tsmg  lao  or  blue  houses  which  has  been  given  them. 
At  about  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening  the  blinds  are 
lifted,  and  the  whole  place  is  brilliantly  lighted  up, 
while  music  and  song  resound  through  the  building. 
In  the  novels  these  establishments  still  go  by  the 
name  of  the  Brilliant  Field  of  Flowers,  and  the  Club 
of  the  Mandarins''  Ducks.  Other  less  choice  names 
are  given  to  them,  too  numerous  to  recapitulate.  The 
streets  in  which  these  establishments  are  situated  go 
by  such  flowery  names  as  the  following :  Flower  Street, 
the  Willow  Avenue  ;  each  house  has  also  its  name  ;  for 
instance  in  Amoy  we  find  the  following :  the  Saddle 
of  Straw,  the  Eighteen  Chairs,  the  Horse's  Pillar,  the 
Church  of  Rome,  so  named  because  the  house  had 
formerly  been  used  as  a  chapel  for  Roman  Catholic 
missionaries.  The  second  form  of  establishments  of  this 
kind  is  constituted  by  the  Flower-Boats,  or  as  they 
are  called  hoa  shing.  The  biggest  of  these  are  called 
at  Canton,  Wang  loa;  there  are  besides  the  sha  Kivoe, 
or  Gauze  Tents,  and  the  fa-thao-moen.  Gate  of  the 
flowery  Frontage.  They  may  be  compared  to  gigantic 
Venetian  gondolas.  Their  length  ranges  from  60  to 
80  feet,  with  about  1 5  feet  in  width ;  the  poop  is  ta- 
pering and  carries  a  platform  made  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  enable  one  to  go  from  one  boat  to  another, 
when,  as  is  generally  the  case,  they  are  anchored  close 
together;  in  this  case,  each  boat  is  solidly  warped  to  a 
zinc  cable  by  means  of  strong  ropes  which  surround 
it  entirely  from  stem  to  stern ;  the  cabin  in  the  elevated 
poop  aft  is  a  sort  of  ante-chamber,  preceding  the  main 
saloon,  which  occupies  about  one  half  of  the  entire 
length  of  the  boat:  they  are  separated  by  panels  of 
trellis   work  or  by  wainscoting.     To  the  right  and  to 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  57 

the  left,  near  the  entry,  are  two  couches  for  the  use  of 
opium  smokers.  Finally  there  is  a  third  saloon,  or  bed- 
chamber, which  is  completely  hidden  from  the  view  of 
the  guests  by  wooden  panels ;  the  windows  on  either 
side  may  be  closed  by  curtains  and  shutters.  Above 
the  entrance  there  is  an  ornamental  three  pointed  front- 
age, artistically  carved  in  wood  and  richly  gilt  all  over ; 
the  rest  of  the  wood-work  is  also  cut  out  with  art  and 
ornamented  with  the  most  brilliant  colours ;  the  floor 
of  the  main  saloon  is  covered  with  the  richest  carpets, 
and  European  lamps,  with  pendant  crystal  drops  are 
suspended  from  the  roof.  The  furniture  consists  of  a 
large  round  table,  some  candelabras  and  chairs,  the 
whole  being  of  beautiful  rosewood,  or  ebony  inlaid  with 
marble.  These  seductive  boats  produce  at  night  a 
magical  effect  when  they  are  brilliantly  lighted  up,  and 
no  one  who  has  once  visited  Canton  can  forget  the 
sight.    The  Flower  girls  do  not  usually  live  in  the  boats. 

The  Chinese  never  go  there  alone,  but  from  ten  to 
twenty  acquaintances  agree  together  to  hire  one  of  these 
boats  for  the  evening.  For  the  larger  ones  they  pay 
as  much  as  from  four  to  six  pounds  a  head  sterling. 

For  this  sum  the  owner  of  the  boat  supplies  the 
lighting,  the  supper  and  as  many  girls  as  there  are 
guests.  He  must  also  bring  musicians  and  the  girls 
have  to  entertain  the  guests  with  song  and  conversa- 
tion. 

At  about  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening  the  supper  is 
served  up,  and  the  guests  all  take  their  seats  round 
the  table,  each  one  with  a  girl  at  his  side.  During 
the  last  service  little  games  are  played,  among  which 
the  most  frequently  in  usage,  is  that  known  to  the 
Italians  under  the  name  of  Morra.  At  the  end  of  the 
entertainment,    at   about    1 1    o'clock  each  couple  goes 


58  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

away  separately  to  little  boats,  built  on  the  same  model 
as  the  big  one,  where  they  pass  the  night. 

The    Chinese    Prostitute.      She    generally    comes 

from  Southern  China.     She  is  short,  and  often  plump, 

and  her  skin  is  almost  yellow,  the  Colour  of  weak  tea. 

Her  breasts  are  rounder,  and  the  muscles  of  her  thighs 

and    legs   more   developed   than    is   the    case  with  the 

Congai.     All  the  hair  of  the  pubes  is  carefully  pulled 

out,  ^     The    vulva   and   vagina  are  rather    larger  than 

those  of  the  Congai. 

'  Dfpilation,     This  reminds  us  of  what  Maxtial  says : — 
Pritnum  igitiir  pathicis  studiose  exstirpandi  erant  pili  de  toto  cor- 
pore.  (a)  Depilahant  Idbra,  brachia,  pectora,  crura,  virilia,  ante  omnia 
vero  Icevigabant  aram  voluptatis  pathiccs,  podicem, 
Martialis,  II,  62  : 

Quod  pectus,  quod  crura  tibi,  quod  bracchia  vellis. 

Quod  cincta  est  brevibus  mensula  tonsa  pilis. 
Hoc  proestas,  Labtene,  tuas,  quis  nescit?  amicce. 
Cui  proestas  culum,   quern  Labtene,  pilus. 
Idem  ix,  28 : 

Cum  depilatos  Chreste,  coleos  portes 
Et  vultzirino  mentulatn  parem  colle 
Et  prostituis  Icevius  capuc  cults. 
Nee  vivat  ullus  in  tuo  pilus  crure. 
Purgentque  crebrae  cana  labra  volselloe. 

(a)  Excepto  quidem  capillo.     Hor.     Ode  X. 

(The  translation  of  the  above  is  given  at  page  91.) 

Again,  Quintillian  tells  us : 

"  Igutur  ut  vein  et  comam  in  gradus  frangere  et  in  balneis  per- 
potare,  quamlibet  hoec  invaserint  civitatem,  non  erit  consuetudo, 
quia  nihil  horum  caret  reprensione. 

(QuiNTiLL.  Instit.  Orat.  I,  6.) 

(Vide  page  92  for  the  transl.  of  this  passage.) 

The  student  will  find  a  most  interesting  chapter  expressly  devoted  to  Depi- 
lation  in  '^  Marriage-love  and  IVoman  amongst  the  Arabs  ;  otherwise  en- 
titled in  Arabic  the  Book  of  Exposition,  etc."    PARIS,  Carrington,  1896. 

Vide  also  the  end  of  the  present  vol. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  59 

But  the  greatest  difference  between  them  is,  that 
the  Chinese  woman  is  very  cleanly  in  her  habits.  She 
washes  herself  all  over  every  day,  and  her  clothes, 
which  are  white,  or  of  a  light  hue,  are  clean  and  neat. 
The  Chinese  woman  does  not  stink  like  the  Annamite. 
When  we  add  that  she  does  not  chew  betel,  and  that 
she  has  pretty,  white  teeth,  which  are  carefully  kept, 
it  will  be  seen  that  she  is  more  like  a  European  woman 
than  the  Annamite  is. 

Unfortunately,  for  those  who  like  voluptuous  pleas- 
ures, she  has  one  immense  fault, — her  frigidity.  Copu- 
lation, with  her,  is  accomplished  mechanically;  it  is  a 
commercial  transaction  which  brings  her  in  a  piaster, 
and  that  is  all. 

The  chief  care  of  the  Chinese  woman  is,  above  all 
things,  not  to  disarrange  the  elaborately  constructed 
edifice  of  her  hair,  which  is  arranged  for  her  once  a 
month  by  the  Chinese  hair-dresser.  Imagine  an  enorm- 
ous chignon,  of  the  form  of  a  conch-shell,  decorated 
with  bows  and  "  corkscrews  "  of  ribbon,  and  kept  together 
by  cosmetics  and  pomades,  in  a  most  extraordinary 
and  absurd  shape.  It  would  not  be  considered  an  act 
of  gallantry  to  take  down  the  hair  of  a  Chinese  woman. 
When  she  lies  down,  she  places  her  cJiignon  on  a  little 
table,  hollowed  out  in  the  middle. 

Never  expect  from  a  Chinese  girl  any  refinement  of 
voluptuousness ; — she  is  incapable  of  it.  She  only 
knows  how  to  lie  down  and  take  you  passively.  If 
need  be,  she  wiU  consent  to  visit  the  European  at  his 
own  house,  if,  in  addition  to  the  regfular  price  of  three 
piasters,  he  will  pay  for  a  carriage  there  and  back, 
for,  to  her  little  deformed  feet,  walking  is  painful. 
Regarding  this  peculiarity,  it  has  been  asserted,  and 
I   fancy   I  have   read   it  in  some  book  of  travels,  that 


60  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

the  object  of  the  compression  of  the  Chinese  woman's 
feet  was  to  develop  the  constrictor  muscles  of  the  vulva 
and  the  vagina.  I  must  confess  that  I  have  rarely- 
met  with  this  vaginal  peculiarity.  In  my  opinion,  it 
depends  rather  on  the  obesity  of  the  woman,  and  there 
is  no  need  to  go  to  China  to  find  this  result.  All 
European  women  who  are  rather  stoutly  built,  and  who 
have  the  pelvis  and  the  thighs  well  developed — even 
old  prostitutes— are  generally  tighter  than  small  thin 
women.     Brantome  remarked  this,  long  ago.  ^ 

Life  of  the  Flower-Boat  girls.  The  education  of 
the  "  Flower-Boat "  girls  is  conducted  on  a  systematic 
plan.  In  nearly  all  cases  they  are  children  that  have 
been  stolen,  bought  of  poor  parents,  or  furnished  by 
houses  of  ill-fame ;  during  the  first  six  years  they  are 
brought  up  with  great  care ;  towards  the  age  of  seven 
or  eight  years,  they  are  made  to  keep  in  order  the 
rooms  of  the  elder  girls;  they  are  richly  dressed  and 
taken  to  the  Flower-Boats,  where  they  hand  the  tea 
and  narghilehs  to  the  guests. 

Towards  the  age  of  eleven  years  they  begin  to 
learn    to   sing    and  to  play  the  lute  or  the  guitar.     If 

*  "y'ar  oitv  compter  a  A/adafne  de  Fontaine- Chanlandry  dicte  la 
belle  Torcv,  qite  la  reine  Eleanor  (a)  sa  maistresse,  estant  hahille'e 
et  vestue  paroissoit  une  tres-belle  princesse,  com?ne  il  y  en  a  cncor 
plusieiirs  qtii  I'ont  veue  telle  en  nostre  cour,  ct  de  belle  et  riche 
faille;  viais,  estant  deshabille'e,  elle  paroissoit  dn  corps  une  gc'ante, 
tant  elle  I'avoit  long  et  grand:  mais  tirant  en  bas,  elle  paroissoit 
une  naine,  tant  elle  avoit  les  cuisses  et  les  janibes  courtes  avec  le 
reste" 

Brantome,  Vie  des  Dames  galantes,  (page  207  of  the  Edit.  Biblit>- 
th^que   Gauloise,  Paris,    1857). 

(a).  La  reine  Eiionore,  soeur  de  Charles  Quint,  hit  marine  .1  Fran<^ois  I, 
devenu  veuf  dcpuis  quelques  ann^es,  lors  de  la  si<jnature  du  traits  de 
Cambrai.      (Translation  of  the  above  at  the  end  of  the  chapttr-page.) 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  61 

one  of  these  children  shows  natural  dispositions,  she 
is  also  taught  to  write,  to  count  and  to  paint.  This 
goes  on  until  the  age  of  13  or  15  ;  then  they  must 
endeavour,  by  their  artifices  and  coquetries,  to  turn 
the  head  of  some  rich  gentleman.  If  they  are  lucky, 
their  keeper  sells  them  for  a  large  sum  in  money, 
from  £,']o  to  :C\2$. 

This  happens  at  the  earliest  at  the  age  of  1 3  ;  this 
is  called :  trying  the  flower ;  if  she  is  1 4  years  old 
they  say:  regttlate  the  Jlower,  and  at  15,  \\.\^'.  gather- 
ing the  flower.  The  same  as  with  the  Romans, 
that  day  is  a  festival  with  the  Chinese. 

The  entire  population  of  the  other  lupanars  come  in 
the  morning  to  express  to  her  their  good  wishes  ;  these 
rejoicings  last  from  a  fortnight  to  three  weeks.  The 
novel  previously  quoted  also  gives  a  description  of 
them.  After  an  interval  of  a  few  days  she  is  sold  a 
second  time ;  the  individual  who  devotes  her  in  this 
manner  to  the  lupanar  is  called  the  sKpercalctilator. 
If  the  girl  is  of  more  than  ordinary  beauty  she  is  left 
at  rest  for  another  year,  to  have  her  honour  sold 
again  a  second,  and  sometimes  even  a  third  time. 
She  then  bears  the  name  of  Ki  hang  liao  ti  niu 
niang,  a  virgin  twice  over. 

After  that  lapse  of  time  she  belongs  to  the  staff  of 
the  establishment  and  goes  by  the  name  of  tschang 
Ki.  The  prices  she  demands  are  sometimes  incredibly 
high,  and  particularly  in  the  central  provinces  of  China 
large  sums  of  m<^ney  are  expended  to  buy  them. 
The  novel  above  quoted  mentions  10  ounces  of  silver 
(about  ;^4 — 5  as  the  price  for  one  night).  However 
in  Canton  seldom  more  than  ;j^2,io/-  is  ever  paid  for 
a  beauty  of  the  first  order.  The  most  profitable  cus- 
tomers   to    the    Canton    girls,    are    travellers  from  the 


62  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

provinces,  or  as  they  are  called  in  the  energetic  dia- 
lect of  the  district:  '' schau  toek  kivai",  the  wicked 
devils  of  the  vwuntaiji.  Like  provincials  coming  to 
(Paris,  they  come  here  to  lose  fortune,  health  and 
honour.  Ignorant  of  all  the  tricks  of  the  brothels, 
they  are  robbed  in  all  possible  ways.  In  the  Flower- 
Boats,  the  stranger  is  attracted  and  seduced,  sometimes 
by  two  or  three  girls  together,  which  never  occurs 
with  the  Roues,  in  whose  presence  in  public  these 
girls  observe  the  strictest  decorum.  A  girl,  already 
sharp,  is  presented  to  him  as  a  virgin ;  after  a  rich 
supper,  well  qualified  with  strong  wines,  he  is  con- 
ducted to  a  small  sleeping  boat,  where  a  little  eel's 
blood  completes  the  illusion : 

Flavcc  aiiguillcr  sanguinis  ejacularis  ejusquc  brae- 
carum  hiatum  oblinc,  says  a  procuress,  in  an  erotic 
story,  to  a  timid  Flower-Boat  girl. 

The  next  morning,  the  unfortunate  and  much  aston- 
ished man  has  to  pay  an  exorbitant  sum.  This  goes 
on  as  long  as  the  money  he  brought  with  him  lasts. 
As  soon  as  that  is  dissipated,  should  he  venture  to 
show  himself  again,  he  is  received  coldly  and  with 
contempt. 

Lucky  indeed  for  him  if,  instead  of  an  amorous 
girl,  he  has  chanced  upon  a  harpy  greedy  for  money, 
and  that,  though  impoverished  in  purse,  he  wisely 
returns  to  his  home.  But  these  men  from  the  country 
are  often  so  giddy,  to  employ  the  Chinese  expression, 
that  they  get  into  debt,  take  to  gambling  or  even 
resort  to  theft  in  order  to  spend  the  money  thus  so 
badly  earned  in  the  low  pleasures  of  the  lupanar. 

All  the  girls  attached  to  an  establishment  of  this 
kind  are  the  absolute  property  of  the  owner,  a  lc7io  or 
lena  (male  or  female  bawd)  who  are  known  respectively 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  63 

under    the   name   of    Woekoei  and    Paorl  or    Roeipo. 

The  girls  call  the  lena,  mother,  and  address  each 
other  by  the  name  of  sister.  The  matrons  of  other 
establishments  are  their  audits,  and  the  latter  call  the 
them  nieces.  The  most  vulgar  names  given  to  the 
master  and  the  matron  are  Piao  thao  and  Ba  thao, 
chief  of  the  house. 

These  matrons  exercise  an  almost  uncontrolled  au- 
thority over  their  girls.  They  can  beat  them,  and  mal- 
treat them,  and  if  they  should  by  mischance  kill  one 
of  them,  the  river  is  handy  to  receive  her  body.  Or 
else  she  is  buried  in  the  sand  without  a  coffin  or 
funeral  ceremony.  There  being  no  complainant.  Jus- 
tice knows  nothing  about  it,  and  makes  no  enquiries, 
even  if  the  body  is  seen  floating  down  stream.  The 
fate  of  these  unfortunate  creatures  is  truly  miserable; 
they  must  give  all  they  earn  to  the  matron,  who  has 
only  to  supply  them  with  food  and  dress.  It  some- 
times happens  that  one  of  these  girls  retains  something 
in  secret,  or  that  their  gallants  add  something  to  the 
tariff  price,  which  she  puts  by  in  order  to  be  able 
later  to  purchase  her  emancipation.  But  should  the 
matron  suspect  such  a  thing  she  may  search  the  girl's 
room  in  her  absence  and  take  possession  of  all  she 
can  find.  If  the  girls  are  refractory,  the  whip  and  the 
stick  are  at  once  brought  into  play,  and  they  are 
flogged  unmercifully.  It  several  times  happened  that 
one  of  these  matrons  tied  a  cat  inside  the  pantaloons 
of  her  victim  and  then  beat  the  animal. 

It  is  not  only  by  their  owners  that  these  unfortu- 
nate creatures  are  maltreated;  the  guests  also,  when 
they  chance  to  be  in  a  bad  humour,  or  fancy  them- 
selves offended  by  them,  are  not  ashamed  to  raise 
their  hands  and  strike  them. 


64  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

When  the  bloom  of  their  youth  has  departed,  their 
lot  becomes  worse  and  worse.  The  big  firms  sell 
them  to  inferior  establishments,  where  they  go  by  the 
name  of  wall-fiowers. 

Falling  still  lower,  they  are  called  Piao  and  other 
similar  names;  at  Amoy,  they  are  then  called  little- 
girls,  or  brown  holland,  when  they  do  not  belong  to 
a  fixed  establishment,  circulators  or  walkers,  thit  the 
lang  and  loe  lioe.  Finally  they  take  the  name  of 
thsan-hoce  and  pai-lioc,  which  corresponds  to  the  Latin, 
word  Blitida,  contemptible  women,  ^  The  contemptu- 
ous expressions  used  by  the  Romans :  scrantia,  dis- 
gusting; scrapta,  vile,  are  to  be  met  with  in  Amoy  in 
the  words  tsap  dzi  lo  thao  e  dzio  k?ing  {trivii scrantia). 
A  very  common  nickname  is  also  applied  to  them : 
tschoen-tao-ma  (inoculatrix). 

Schlegel  says:  "  Cases  of  girls  going  astray  are, 
in  fact  almost  unknown,  and  when  they  do  occur  it 
is  only  upon  the  promise  of  a  secret  marriage ;  this, 
in  the  eyes  of  the  Chinese,  no  longer  constitutes  a 
faux  pas,  a  secret  marriage  being  to  them  as  valid 
as  a  public  one. 

The  man  who,  without  very  good  reason,  abandons 
a  girl  to  whom  he  has  been  united  in  secret  marriage, 
is  in  most  cases  condemned  to  death  by  the  magistrates ; 
further  the  priests  threaten  him  with  terrible  punish- 
ments in  hell. 

*  Blitea  et  lutca  est  inerctrix,  nisi  quoe  sapit  in  vino  ad  rem  suam. 
Plaut.    True.   4,  4,    i. 

At  Canton,  these  vomen  .^re  generally  called  Lo  queue  or  Jifan  ugao. 

They  more  usually  p;o  by  the  name  of  hoa  nut  (the  daughters  of 
flowers),  on  account  of  the  flowers  with  which  they  adorn  themselves, 
and  fao  thao  (painted  faces),  because  they  are  addicted  to  that  adorn- 
ment. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  65 

However,  adultery  is  more  frequent  in  our  days, 
although  the  opportunities  are  very  difficult  to  be  met 
with  on  account  of  the  strict  separation  of  the  sexes. 

Most  women,  under  the  pretext  of  pilgrimages 
to  obtain  posterity,  seek  for  consolation  from  the 
priests. 

In  order  to  make  good  this  assertion,  we  shall  seek 
in  the  Chinese  tales  themselves  a  fact  w^hich  will 
clearly  show  us  the  existence  of  this  depravity. 

In  the  ninth  part  of  the  Treasure  of  Wisdom,  a 
collection  of  celebrated  law-cases  for  the  use  of  magis- 
trates, is  to  be  found  the  following  account: 

"  In  the  canton  of  Yoeng  Schun,  district  of  Nau- 
Ning,  province  of  Koeang-Si,  there  is  a  cloister  called 
The  magnificent  Water-lily.  It  contains  a  hall,  called 
The  Hall  of  the  Children  and  Gra7tdchildren,  at  the 
sides  of  which  are  a  row  of  cells.  The  tradition  says 
that  when  women  came  there  to  pray  for  children 
their  prayers  were  always  granted. 

"  It  was  in  every  case  necessary  to  bring  rich  offerings, 
and  the  women  who  came  there  to  pray  were  required 
to  be  at  their  best  time  of  Hfe  and  in  excellent  health. 
They  had  previously  to  fast  and  to  abstain  from  carnal 
connection  ;  then,  if  the  oracles  were  favourable  they 
had  to  pass  one  night  in  the  cloister.  Most  of  these 
women  related  having  dreamed  that  Buddha  had 
fecundated  them ;  others  said  that  an  Arhan,  one 
of  the  eighteen  disciples  of  Buddha,  had  made  them 
pregnant;  others  on  the  contrary  related  absolutely 
nothing. 

"  Some  of  them  never  returned  again  to  the  cloister 
after  having  once  passed  a  night  there,  whereas  others 
returned  there  several  times  running. 

"  As    the    cells    were    carefully  closed,  and  that  the 


66  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

husbands   and    the   parents   remained  on  guard  at  the 
door,  all  this  was  generally  believed. 

"  An  inhabitant  of  Fo  Kien,  named  Wang-ten,  was 
appointed  governor  of  Canton.  On  hearing  of  these 
miraculous  events,  he  had  some  suspicions  which  he 
wished  to  clear  up.  He  ordered  two  loose  women  of 
the  town  to  go  to  this  cloister,  dressed  in  their  finest 
clothes.  Their  instructions  were  the  following: 'Should 
any  one  approach  you  during  the  night,  do  not  repel 
him,  but  stain  his  tonsure,  without  his  perceiving  it, 
with  red  or  black  ink.' 

"  The  next  morning,  at  day-break,  he  posted  a  detach- 
ment of  soldiers  around  the  temple,  and  went  in  him- 
self to  make  his  inspection.  All  the  priests,  about 
one  hundred  in  number,  hastened  to  come  forward  to 
greet  him.  They  all  uncovered  their  heads  in  his 
presence,  and  Wang-ten  then  perceived  among  them 
two  who  bore  red  and  black  marks  on  the  bald  part  of 
their  heads.  He  ordered  them  to  be  immediately  seized, 
and  put  into  chains,  and  asked  the  two  prostitutes  to 
relate  the  facts  with  all  the  circumstances.  They  said : 
'  After  vespers  had  been  rung,  two  priests  approached 
us.  They  gave  us  a  parcel  of  pills  to  regulate  the 
menses,  and  to  engender  children. '  Wang  thereupon 
ordered  all  the  women  who  had  gone  there  to  pray 
for  children,  to  be  taken  to  prison.  They  all  denied, 
but  further  enquiry  showed  that,  like  the  two  gay 
women,  they  had  also  been  given  pills  to  engender 
children.  He  then  set  them  at  liberty,  but  ordered  the 
soldiers  to  enter  the  temple.  The  frightened  priests 
did  not  dare  to  resist  and  were  bound  together  two 
and  two.  He  had  the  place  searched  to  discover  the 
means  resorted  to  by  the  priests  to  approach  the  women. 
It    was    discovered    that   underground  secret  passages 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  67 

gave  access  to  the  cells  behind  the  beds.  It  was  im- 
possible ever  to  find  out  how  many  women  they  had 
thus  dishonoured." 

The  conduct  in  the  women's  convents  is  far  from 
being  as  it  should  be.  They  are  inhabited  by  girls 
who,  betrothed  in  their  youth  to  a  man  whom  they 
have  later  refused  to  marry,  have  taken  refuge  in 
these  convents  to  escape  the  authority  of  their  parents, 
and  by  girls  that  have  been  abandoned  by  their  lovers. 

They  are  seldom  led  there  by  religious  convictions. 

In  the  cloisters  they  enjoy  greater  liberty  than  at 
home,  for  they  owe  obedience  to  one  person  only,  the 
abbess.  There  is  very  great  debauchery  in  these 
convents,  and  that  to  such  an  extent  that  there 
is  a  Chinese  proverb  which  says:  The  nun  is  the 
wife  of  the  monk,  and  the  monk  is  the  slave  of  the 
nun. 

Chinese  novels  often  contain  examples  of  the  mis- 
conduct which  reigns  in  these  convents:  for  instance, 
among  others,  in  the  erotic  novel  of  the  Tower  of  Jasper, 
in  which  is  related  the  history  of  the  life  of  a  nun, 
the  details  of  which  are  to  such  a  degree  indecent 
and  immoral,  that  Boccaccio  has  never  written  anything 
like  it.  Notwithstanding  the  severe  penalties  meted 
out  to  debauched  priests  or  nuns,  the  authorities  generally 
content  themselves  with  from  time  to  time  closing  the 
convents,  and  obliging  the  priests,  the  monks  and  the 
nuns  to  resume  the  life  of  the  laity. 

The  severe  laws  against  adultery,  for  both  man  and 
woman,  are  the  cause  of  the  rareness  of  cases  of 
seduction  and  adultery.  These  impediments  have  even 
led  women  to  the  infamy  of  the  vice  against  nature, 
a  vice  known  to  the  Romans  under  the  name  of 
fascinum.     The    instrument    used   by  them  is  made  of 


68  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

soft  leather,  or  of  thin  horn,  and  stuffed  with  cotton. 
In  China  it  is  called  la  siang  Koeng  (the  great  Lord)  ; 
at  Emoi  and  its  neighbourhood,  and  in  the  entire 
province  of  Fokieii,  it  bears  the  name  of  Kak  tshia 
(the  chariot  of  horn). 

The  Houses  of  Prostitution  of  Cho-lon.  Though 
the  Chinese  houses  of  Saigon  are  used  by  Europeans, 
those  of  Cho-lon,  on  the  other  hand,  are  almost  exclu- 
sively reserved  for  the  Chinese.  In  some  respects 
these  latter  resemble  certain  "  society  houses  "  in  Europe. 
You  must  be  ready  to  put  your  hand  in  your  pocket, 
and  you  are  not  admitted  unless  accompanied  by  some 
Chinese  habitue. 

As  in  France,  there  are  luxurious  saloons,  with 
divans,  sofas,  mirrors,  and  pictures  painted  on  glass. 
The  girls,  richly  dressed,  are  sent  into  the  saloon  to 
receive  the  visitors.  Even  the  stereotyped  phrase 
"  Toutes  ces  dames  an  salon,''  is  employed, — in  Chi- 
nese, of  course.  ^     If  you  choose  to  order  it,  you  can 

•  Travellers  on  the  Continent  will  recollect  that  in  the  gay  resorts  of 
this  kind  a  similar  call  is  invariably  used  From  the  German's : 
"Die  Dainen  mogen  herunter  kominen"  to  the  Spaniard's: — "  AVnaj 
al  salon  que  hay  caballeros  (or  "■  scnores  que  se  csperan",  there 
is  not  much  to  choose.  In  certain  swell  Madrid  and  Barcelona 
"  houses "  however,  the  "  salon"  is  generally  qualified  by  "  azul " 
or  "  verde "  according  to  the  pre-dominant  colour  by  which  it  is  dis- 
tinguished, several  distinct  parties  being  sometimes  entertained  in  different 
rooms  at  the  same  time.  In  Spanish  places  of  a  lower  class,  polite- 
ness is  thrown  to  the  winds  and  the  brutal  call  is  then  "•  Pittas  al 
salon   (or  macarelle)  que  hay  cabrones  que  se  agitardan." 

Parisian  establishments  of  a  superior  character  appear  to  manage  these 
things  better, — the  visitor's  step  on  the  staircase  setting  in  motion  an 
artfully  contrived,  concealed  electric  bell  which  warns  the  demoiselles  (?) 
of  his  approach  and  before  he  has  had  time  to  reach  the  landing  the 
patronne  of  the  place  is  waiting  to  wish  Monsieur,  bonsoir,    and  usher 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  69 

be  served  with  a  copious  repast  in  the  Chinese  fashion, 
and  of  which  birds'nest  soup,  tripang-,  preserved  ginger, 
and  ginseng  form  the  base,  helped  out  by  other  strongly- 
spiced  dishes.  You  hear  the  distant  sounds  of  Chinese 
music,  for  the  performers  are  placed  in  another  room, 
in  order  that  they  should  not  disturb  the  loving  couples. 
They  play  melancholy,  languishing  airs,  which,  it  would 
appear,  give  the  Chinese  erotic  thoughts.  The  girls 
are  tender  and  cajoling ;  they  assume  poses  likely  to 
stir  up  the  senses  of  the  old  Chinese  bankers,  who 
are  not  easily  excited.  They  are  hardly  more  expert 
in  the  art  of  Venus,  however,  than  their  rivals  of 
Saigon. 

Fate  of  the  Chinese  Prostitute.  These  women 
end  their  lives  most  miserably.  When  their  bodies 
have  been  ravaged  by  horrible  diseases,  so  as  to  render 
them  improper  for  the  continuance  of  their  trade,  they 
seek  to  earn  a  livelihood  as  street  needlewomen. 
Everywhere  in  Canton,  these  hideous  creatures  may 
be  seen,  often  with  an  artificial  nose  made  of  paper 
and  big  spectacles,  sitting  at  the  street-corners,  with 
a  basket  full  of  old  clothes  and  rags  at  their  side,  ready 
for  a  few  cents  to  mend  the  old  garments  of  passing 
soldiers  and  coolies. 

Very  seldom  do  any  of  them  have  a  happier  fate. 
Should  a  girl  take  the  fancy  of  one  of  the  habitues 
and  if  she  purchase  her  freedom,  she  may  then  become 
his  second  wife. 

In  this  case,  her  life  is  a  most  happy  one,  and  if 
it  happens  that  the  legitimate  wife  has  no  son,  whereas 
she   has   one,    her   position    becomes  an  honoured  one 

him   into   a   reception-room    after    a    quick,    businesslike   glance   that    has 
measured  her  man,  before  he  has  uttered  a  word. 


70  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS    OF 

for  then  the  husband  often  promotes  her  to  the 
rank  of  legitimate  spouse,  on  the  death  of  his  first 
wife. 

Others  again,  who,  by  means  of  large  sums  of  money 
they  have  earned,  and  by  their  intelligence  have  raised 
themselves  above  their  condition,  purchase  their  free- 
dom at  a  heavy  price,  varying  from  ^^250  to  ;iCiyoo, 
and  choose  for  themselves  a  legitimate  husband  among 
their  adorers. 

Such  cases  are  however  very  rare,  for  these  girls 
seldom  possess  money  enough  to  redeem  themselves, 
and  to  provide  against  a  rainy  day  and  to  economise 
is  not  among  their  virtues. 

The  only  hope  of  most  among  them  is  to  be  able 
one  day  to  keep  a  brothel  themselves.  One  of  these 
Flower-Boat  girls,  being  asked  what  she  most  desired, 
replied  that  she  would  be  the  happiest  of  women  if 
she  were  taken  by  somebody  as  wife  or  as  concubine; 
but  she  added :  "  I  shall  never  have  such  luck,  and 
shall  deem  myself  most  fortunate  if  I  can  one  day 
commence  business  on  my  own  account." 

Female  Infanticide.  The  dread  of  such  a  miser- 
able fate  is  the  cause  of  another  crime  that  prevails 
among  the  Chinese,  and  for  which  we  have  often 
blamed  them :  the  drowning  of  new-born  female  infants. 
The  misery  which  reigns  in  China  in  years  of  scarcity 
leaves  no  option  to  the  Chinese  but  to  sell  their 
daughters  or  to  drown  them. 

We  have  seen  what  is  the  lot  of  the  girl  that  is 
sold.  What  wonder  then  that  a  father  with  a  sensible 
heart  should  prefer  to  make  the  little  innocent  babe 
die  before  it  has  suffered  or  breathed,  rather  than  to 
abandon    it    to    crime    or    to    an  abominable  fate.     In 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  71 

his  ignorance  he  conforms  to  the  maxim :  "  Better 
to  kill  the  body  than  the  souiy  Better  let  this  poor 
innocent  perish  than  to  allow  it  to  gradually  die 
slowly  of  cold  and  hunger,  as  it  so  often  happens  in 
Europe. 

Nor  must  it  be  forgotten  that  in  Europe  there  are 
numerous  institutions  which  receive  these  children, 
whereas  in  China  the  instability  of  capital  makes  it 
impossible  to  establish  such  institutions  on  a  large 
scale. 

The  debauchery  contrary  to  nature  so  prevalent  in 
the  North  of  China  is  also  an  obstacle  to  the  multi- 
plication of  the  female  population.  At  Canton,  where 
this  disgusting  vice  is  more  rare,  so  also  are  there 
fewer  cases  of  infanticide. 

During  a  stay  of  eleven  months  in  this  part  of  China, 
during  which  we  visited  daily  even  to  the  narrowest 
arms  of  the  river,  we  never  encountered  but  one  infant 
corpse  floating  on  the  water,  whereas  during  the  same 
period  we.  found  the  drowned  bodies  of  six  adults. 
The  child  might  therefore  have  been  drowned  by  ac- 
cident. 

Vicious  Habits  of  Old  Chinese  Debauchees.     I 

have  not  seen  what  I  am  about  to  describe,  but  I 
heard  it  from  a  Chinese  friend,  B***,  who  farmed  the 
opium  monopoly,  and  who  had  often  assisted  me  in 
obtaining  admission  to  these  houses.  I  do  not  think 
he  wished  to  impose  on  my  credulity,  and  this  ia  what 
he  has  many  times  told  me. 

When  the  senses  of  an  old  Chinaman  are  so  worn 
out  that  all  natural  means  of  excitement  cannot  arouse 
his  enervated  genital  organs,  he  has  recourse  to  the 
following  expedient. 


72  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS    OF 

The  old  Celadon  ^  is  accompanied  by  a  servant  or 
strong  coolie,  who  copulates  with  a  woman  in  his 
presence,  and  then  retires.  In  France,  the  spectators 
of  this  kind  of  operation  are  generally  invisible  to  the 
performers.  At  Cho-lon  such  delicacy  is  unknown, 
and  the  amateur  ^  assists  at  the  scene,  all  the  phases 
of  which  he  follows  with  interest. 

'  Celadon,  a  character  in  the  romance  of  Astre'e  who,  langourous  and 
insipid,  is  always  sighing  after  his  shepherdess  {Littre). 

To  the  ''Barbsr's  Tale  of  his  Sscond  Brother"  {'' Nights"  ORIG. 
EDIT,  vol,  I.  page  327)  Burton  makes  a  short  note  on  the  ''concealed 
spectator "  trick  resorted  to  in  Paris,  and  adds  that  "  it  was  put  down 
when  one  of  the  lookers-on  lost  his  Hfe  by  a  pen-knife  thrust  into  the 
crevice." 

This,  was  written  in  i?85.  But  the  voyeur  or  spier  is  still  the  dread 
of  those  who  frequent  the  Parisian  '.'  bordels",  and  a  French  army-officer 
has  assured  me  that  special  pecuniary  inducements  are  held  out  to  young 
and  vigorous  soldiers  to  visit  these  places  of  "  amusement "  for  an  object 
that  may  be  easily  devined.  We  could  say  many  startling  things  under 
this  head,  but  this  work  not  being  a  History  of  Prostitution  we  reserve 
our  information  for  some  future  book. 

^  In  the  French,  men  of  this  stamp  are  called  Gagas,  a  most  significant 
word.  Littre  derives  it  from  gdter  (to  spoil),  hence  gdtetix,  "  a  spoiled, 
or  ravagcr."  The  colloquial  meaning,  however,  is  one  who  has  spoiled, 
or  ruined,  his  health  by  excesses  with  woman-folk ;  such  persons  generally 
suffer  from  that  pitiable  malady — loco-motor  ataxis,  although  of  course, 
this  complaint  is  not  alivays  the  consequence  of  licentious,  and  uxorious 
practices. — Dubut  de  La  Forest  in  his  work.  La  Pathologie  Sociale 
(Paris,  1886),  has  drawn  a  jwwerful  picture  of  a  man  reduced  to  this 
state.  He  traces  the  "gaga"  through  the  following  stages: — (*) infantile 
manias  and  motor  disorders  of  phonation — (°)  Illusions — (')  Erotomania  ; 
(*)Loss  of  the  Moral  sense — (*)  Period  of  Calm — (')  Exposition  of  one's 
private  parts  under  irresistible  impulse — (')  Grave  troubles  of  speech — (•) 
Idiocy;  Outrages  against  modesty — OHallucinations—C")  Desire  to  commit 
incest — (*')  Fresh  period  of  calm — ('*)Cure. 

M.  De  La  Forest  prophesies  "  that  an  apparatus  will  one  day  be 
invented  in  the  form  of  a  thermometer  adapted  to  the  skull,  fixed  and 
graduated,  "not  to  the  circumvolution,  for  there  are  thousands  of  them  ", 
but  to    the   five   regions   corresponding   to   the   senses.     We   could    thus 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  73 

When  once  the  agent  has  retired,  well  and  duly- 
paid,  the  old  debauchee  is  left  alone  with  the  woman, 
who  is  still  resting  upon  the  field  of  battle.  Then  the 
man  approaches,  and  eagerly  receives  in  bitcca  sua, 
the  liquid  which  runs  e  vulva  foemince.  ^ 

This  habit,  it  is  said,  is  widely  spread.  I  have  no 
intention  to  discuss  here  this  strange  freak  of  eroticism, 
I  simply  note  the  custom. 

Chinese  agents  of  prostitution.  We  have  now 
to  speak  of  three  kinds  of  despicable  agents  of  prosti- 
tution who,  even  in  China  are  looked  upon  with  much 
contempt.  We  mean  the  proxenets,  the  indicators  and 
the  traders.  The  first  of  these,  called  in  the  Amoy 
dialect  hum  lang  po,  are  to  be  met  with  in  the  middle- 
class.  In  the  Chinese  novel :  Tsiaiig  hing  ko  (Finds 
his  pearl-embroidered  vestment),  this  profession  is  carried 
on  by  an  old  woman  dealer  in  jewelry.  In  the  novel : 
"The  house  of  the  singing  phoenix",  there  are  two 
maid-servants  who  bring  about  a  meeting  between  the 

measure  the  degree  of  Touch,  Taste,  Smell,  Hearing  and  Sight,  and 
would  perhaps,  also  discover  the  kingdom  of  the  Sixth  sense  {Je 
royaume  du  stxceme  sens),  THE  GENITAL — the  only  one  which  interests 
nature."  (Introduction  xvil). 

'  This  revolting  habit  of  the  libertine  has  not  escaped  the  intellectual 
activity  of  the  age,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  following  bibliography : 

Diderot,  La  Religieuse,  roman  d'line  devote  a  l' amour  leshique  ; 
Theophile  Gautier,  Afademoiselle  de  Matipin ;  Feydeau,  La  Comtesse  de 
Chalis ;  Flaubert,  Salembo ;  Kraflft-Ebing  (op.  cit.  p.  76)  adds:  Belot, 
Mademoiselle  Giraiid,  ma  femme.  In  German  literature  KrafTt-Ebing 
also  quotes:  Wilbrand :  Fridolin's  heimliche  Ehc;  Emcrich  Count. 
Stadion,  Brick  und  Brack  odcr  Licht  in  Schatten,  and  Sacher  Maseeh, 
Venus  in  Pelz.  Among  other  authors  who  allude  to  tribadism  are : 
Zola,  in  Nana  and  in  La  Cure'e,  and  quite  recently  in  Italy,  Butti,  in 
his  novel  "  Vautomna" . 

Lombroso,   ""  La  femme  criminelle ;  (Paris,    1896,  p.   401), 


74  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

Student  Ki  and  dame  Sioee-ngo.  The  individuals 
belonging  to  the  second  category,  called  in  the  Amoy 
dialect  Kiah  ang  ting,  or  Khaan  Bee,  Khaan  Rao, 
Khaan  moei  soh,  wait  at  the  landing-stages  and  public 
places,  lantern  in  hand,  to  show  young  men  the  way 
to  the  palaces  of  debauchery. 

These  are  the  adductores,  condtictores,  admissarii 
of  the  Romans.  The  expression  Khaan  Dee  answers 
precisely  to  what  the  Roman  peasants  understood  by 
the  word  admis sarins :  he  who  leads  the  stallion  to 
the  mare  or  the  bull  to  the  cow. 

To  this  last  class  belong  also  the  traders,  Gee  po 
or  Hoan  sao  po.  Notwithstanding  the  heavy  penalties 
attached  to  this  traffic,  they  buy  young  children  or 
steal  them  in  order  to  sell  them  underhand  to  houses 
of  prostitution.  Entire  bands  of  men  and  women  are 
to  be  met  with  united  together  for  the  purpose  of 
trading  in  children  on  a  grand  scale. 

There  are  also  attached  to  the  staif  of  the  Blue 
Houses  attendants,  called  at  Amoy  Phang  Phoen  tsoei, 
who  bring  water  for  foot- washing,  and  pang  ho  en  e, 
pipe-bearers;  the  last  and  lowest  are  the  toeng  pha 
tschioe,  or  bullies,  whose  office  is  to  appease  quarrels 
among  the  customers,  and  if  necessary,  to  turn  them 
out,  and  the  hia  hoen  tsoei  e,  or  preparers  of  alum, 
who  boil  the  alum-water  which  the  Flower-Boat  girls 
use  for  their  secret  toilet. 

The  conventional  signs  employed  by  the  Chinese 
are  as  numerous  as  the  furtivce  notos  used  by  the 
Romans.  The  Chinese  call  them  Secret  marks  and 
most  of  the  courtesans  are  very  expert  in  their  inter- 
pretation. The  forefinger  rubbed  beneath  the  nose 
signifies  that  a  man  finds  a  woman  to  his  taste  and 
that  he  would  like  to  make  her  more  intimate  acquain- 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  75 

tance.  The  same  finger  gently  rapping  the  tip  of  the 
ear  means :  No !  The  right  hand  slapping  the  back 
of  the  left  is  also  a  refusal. 

Other  signs  consist  again  in  closing  the  two  fists, 
leaving  the  two  forefingers  free,  which  are  rubbed  one 
against  the  other,  as  if  sharpening  two  knives;  or  else 
laying  the  two  hands  flat  one  upon  the  other,  and 
shaking  them  like  castagnettes. 

The  most  infamous  of  these  signs  and  one  which  is 
only  employed  by  the  very  lowest  of  coolies,  is  to  shove 
the  right  forefinger  in  and  out  of  the  closed  palm  of 
the  left  hand. 

By  means  of  signs  also  the  price  is  settled  and  the 
hour  of  rendezvous  indicated,  or  else  the  fan  is  em- 
ployed, certain  movements  of  which  are  made  to  con- 
vey the  desired  information. 

Of  course  aphrodisiacs  are  not  wanting  in  so  depraved 
a  country  as  China,  and  we  shall  give  a  detailed 
account  of  them  later. 

The  composition  of  these  mixtures  is  even  still  un- 
known to  Europeans;  we  only  know  that  musk,  opium. 
Ginseng  (the  root  of  Panax  quinquefolia)  and  dried 
shrimps  reduced  to  powder  form  the  principal  ingre- 
dients. Phosphorus  and  cantharides  seem  to  be  un- 
known to  them. 

The  Chinese  "  Flower-Boat "  girls  also  believe  that 
the  addition  of  a  small  quantity  of  menstrual  blood  to 
the  wine  or  tea  presented  by  them  to  a  client  is  a 
sure  way  of  causing  him  to  remain  faithful.  Whether 
this  proves  a  greater  attraction  to  European  visitors 
we  do  not  know;  at  any  rate  people  who  go  to  these 
places  should  be  on  their  goiard.  We  now  pass  on  to 
a  third  class  of  Asiatic  rnaison  dc  passe,  of  which, 
however,  there  is  not  so  much  comparatively  to  be  said. 


76  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

The  Japanese  Brothel.  The  Japanese  brothels 
are  situated  in  the  same  street  as  the  Chinese  ones, 
often  even  side  by  side.  But  the  Japanese  girl  does 
not  sit  at  the  door  touting  for  custom.  The  house  is 
quiet,  and  there  is  no  one  watching  from  the  balcony, 
over  the  veranda.  There  is  not  even  a  reception- 
room  on  the  ground  floor ;  you  must  ascend  to  the  first 
floor,  were  you  find  a  room  shaded  by  sun-blinds.  ^ 

*  Something  analogous  exists,  or  did  exist  some  years  ago  in  Holland. 
In  Rotterdam,  there  exists  a  certain  street,  the  "  Sandstraat",  leading 
down  to  the  Boompjes,  or  port.  All  the  brothels  are  obliged  to  be 
located  in  this  street,  on  either  side  of  which  are  none  other  than  these 
hospitable  establishments,  which  are  besides  conducted  with  the  strictest 
decorum :  the  entry,  with  folding-doors,  gives  directly  upon  the  street, 
and  as  soon  as  night  has  fallen,  and  the  lamps  are  lit,  these  doors  are 
lifted  off  their  hinges,  and  replaced  by  heavy  curtains  which,  while 
keeping  out  the  cold,  enable  the  police  outside  to  take  note  of  what  is 
going  on  within  and  to  be  able  to  immediately  interfere  efficaciously  in 
case  of  any  disturbance. 

On  entering,  the  visitor  finds  himself  in  a  spacious  hall,  at  the  other 
end  of  which  is  stationed  an  orchestra.  To  the  right  and  left  are  placed 
little  round  marble  tables,  with  comfortable  benches  and  chairs  as  in  any 
cafe.     The  centre  of  the  hall  is  kept  free  for  dancing. 

The  new-comer  is  invited  to  take  a  seat  and  a  small  glass  of  Schiedam 
is  presented  to  him  by  a  young  girl,  in  graceful  Dutch  national  costume, 
who,  first  touching  it  with  her  lips,  hands  it  to  him,  with  the  amiable 
salutation  of,  "  IVelkom,  Mynheer"  welcome.  Sir.  He  is  not  charged 
for  this,  it  is  a  present  from  the  house.  He  then  sits  down,  and  usually 
calls  for  something  on  his  own  account;  and  observes  what  is  going  on. 
If  he  did  not  know  where  he  was,  he  would  simply  imagine  to  be  in 
some  decently  conducted  dancing-saloon.  A  number  of  handsome  girls 
walk  two  and  two  round  the  h.ill  in  the  intervals  between  this  music; 
but  they  scrupulously  refrain  from  addressing  themselves  to  any  of  the 
numerous  clients,  until  one  of  them  is  beckoned  to  come.  Acquaintance 
is  then  made  and,  after  perhaps  a  waltz  or  two  or  a  polka  and  some 
refreshment,  may  be  brouglit  to  a  satisfactory  conclusion  in  the  upper 
part  of  the  building,  to  wliich  access  is  obtained  ihrougli  a  door  at  the 
back  of  the  orchestra. 

From    one    end    to    the  other  of  the  Sandstraat  the  conditions  are  the 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  77 

On  prostitution  in  Japan  Selenka  ^  writes: 
"The  vile  things  that  have  become  usual  in  some 
of  the  Tea-houses  near  the  port,  are  in  no  way  na- 
tional to  the  Japanese,  and  have  their  origin  only  in 
the  avarice  of  certain  greedy  exploiters.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  crowd  of  professional  demi-mondaines  in  the 
towns  constitute"  an  established  caste,  sanctioned  by 
ancient  habit  and  custom,  for  the  reason  that  poor 
parents  often  sell  their  daughters  to  houses  of  ill-fame. 
The  unfortunate  girls  submit  without  murmur  to  their 
fate,  the  deeply-rooted  Confucian  theory :  "  Pious 
respect  towards  parents  ",  makes  their  daughters  laws. 
In  the  more  important  Japanese  towns  there  are  generally 
special  streets  devoted  to  this  trade  in  which  are 
luxuriously  mounted  establishments,  called  Yoshiwarc. 
on  the  ground-floor  of  which  are  congregated  the 
ladies  of  the  place,  who,  richly  clad,  guitar  in  hand, 
are  exposed  behind  a  sort  of  wooden  grating  to  the 
male  visitors.     As  these  girls  have  received  a  certain 

same,  the  different  establishments  varying  only  in  richness  of  decoration 
and  comfort,  from  those  near  the  port  where  go  sailors,  stokers  and 
trimmers  and  others  frequented  by  boatswains,  ship-carpenters'  and 
pursers'  mates,  to  more  respectable  saloons,  the  resort  of  captains,  first 
and  second  mates  and  sometimes  a  well-to-do  stevedore.  Higher  up  are 
the  aristocratie  establishments  visited  by  ship-owners,  shipping  and 
insurance  agents,  some  passing  tourists,  but  more  particularly  by  certain 
wealthy;  ponderous  and  lecherous  old  Dutch  burghers,  who  go  there 
regularly  to  absorb  good  Hollands,  smoke  long  pipes  and  practise  bad  morals. 

The  writer  of  these  lines  remembers  seeing,  to  his  great  astonishment, 
an  entire  marriage  party ;  bride  and  bridegroom,  parents  and  family,  gravely 
enter  one  of  these  dens,  and  proceed  to  enjoy  themselves ;  the  bride 
seemed  to  be  quite  at  home,  and  enquir)-  elicited  the  astounding  fact 
that  SHE  HAD,  AND  PROBABLY,  WITH  THE  CONSENT  OF 
HER  "FIANCE",  PASSED  A  COUPLE  OF  YEARS  IN  THIS 
ESTABLISHMEXT  TO  EARN  HER  DOWRY! 

'  "Einil  und  Leonore,  Sonnige  M'clten,  Ostasiaslische  Reiseskizzen, 
Wiesbaden,    i8q6. 


78  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

amount  of  education,  they  as  a  rule,  find  a  husband, 
even  if  he  be  of  inferior  rank,  and  after  marriage  are 
esteemed  as  honourable  women.  They  are  themselves 
rarely  responsible  for  the  life  they  lead. 

One  day  in  Kioto  I  saw  a  young  girl  in  the  midst 
of  a  great  crowd.  She  had  just  been  "  dressed  up"  ; 
she  wore  rich  varied  tinted  silk  dresses,  had  a  perfect 
halo  of  golden  pins  in  her  head-dress,  and  was  patrolled 
through  the  streets,  in  order  to  draw  the  attention  of 
the  men  to  her.  This  young  lady  novice  in  gallantry 
did  not  seem  at  all  dissatisfied  with  her  fate. 

Physical  Characteristics  of  the  Japanese  Wo- 
man. She  is  stronger  and  more  massively  made  than 
the  Chinese,  or  Annamite  woman  and  her  extremities 
are  not  so  fine ;  the  feet  are  never  deformed ;  and  she 
always  wears  sandals  or  babooches,  like  the  Turkish 
woman.  The  skin  is  whiter,  the  general  appearance 
of  the  body  is  like  that  of  the  Chinese  woman,  but 
the  pubes  is  not  always  deprived  of  its  hair.  In  that 
case  it  is  scantily  furnished  with  a  little  black  curly  hair. 
The  mucous  surfaces  of  the  vulva  and  vagina  are 
lighter  than  in  the  Chinese  woman,  and  much  lighter 
than  in  the  Annamite  woman.  The  general  hue,  a 
yellow  red,  is  nearly  like  that  of  a  Spanish  woman. 
The  genital  parts  are  also  much  better  developed  than 
in  the  Annamite  woman.  The  breast  is  also  more 
rounded. 

Ploss  states  that: — the  exterior  genitals  of  Japanese 
women  present  many  particularities.  Wernich  found 
the  following  in  his  gynaecological  department  in 
Yeddo : 

"  The  larger  lips  show  little  stoutness  of  development  and  even  among 
young  people  they  lack  firmness.     The  vulva  stands  out  very  prominently 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  79 

which  may  perhaps  be  attributed  to  the  custom  among  the  women  of 
the  lower  classes  of  making  water  in  a  standing  position.  The  vagina 
is  short,  Wernich  never  found  it  to  exceed  2%  inches  in  length.  He  was 
never  able  to  perceive  a  hymen.  The  vagina  did  not  in  general 
appear  to  be  particularly  wide.  Congestion  and  erection  of  the  portia 
vaginalis  took  place  during  examination  much  more  frequently  than  it  does 
among  European  women." 

It  is  said  indeed  that  the  genital  parts  of  Japanese 
women  are  actually  so  narrow  that  medical  men  are 
appointed  to  choose  out  of  the  prostitutes  those  which 
permit  the  coitus  with  the  more  powerful  virile  member 
of  the  European.  Whether  this  information  is  founded 
on  fact  deserves  further  consideration.  DOENITZ,  who 
was  for  many  years  an  employe  of  the  Japanese 
government,  and  introduced  police  supervision  of  pros- 
titutes into  Tokio  declares  the  above  assertion  to  be 
inappropriate.  The  vaginas  also  gave  convenient  ad- 
mission to  the  medium  size  of  the  speculum  usually 
employed  in  Europe.  Besides,  the  Europeans  residing 
in  Japan  usually  choose  their  concubines  themselves 
and  do  not  receive  them  from  the  hands  of  the 
police. 

In  a  collection  of  Japanese  aquarelles  in  the  Royal 
Avthropological  Musezivi  in  Berlin,  known  under  the 
name  of  Physiognomical  Studies,  which  were  painted 
by  Maruyama,  the  most  celebrated  Japanese  artist  of 
the  last  century,  there  is  one  representing  a  naked 
woman  squatting  on  the  ground,  with  the  motto  — 
which  Prof.  Dr.  Grube  kindly  translated  for  us.  — "  A 
woman  who  has  sinned  in  lust."  Her  Schamspalte 
(shame-slit),  is  depicted  wide  agape;  the  clitoris,  as 
well  as  the  smaller  lips,  stand  out  prominently,  the 
larger  lips,  on  the  contrary,  appear  small  with  but 
little  stout  development. 


80  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

MORACHE  says  that  among  Chinese  women  the  larger 
lips  are  more  largely   developed.  ^ 

The  mode  of  dressing  the  hair  is  less  complicated 
than  that  of  the  Chinese  woman,  and  much  resembles 
that  of  the  Spanish  ladies.  The  hair  is  always  lifted 
off  the  forehead,  and  twisted  at  the  back  of  the  head 
into  a  chignon,  through  which  is  stuck  a  shell  comb. 
But,  as  with  her  two  Asiatic  sisters,  the  hair  is  as 
stiff  and  hard  as  the  hair  of  a  horse's  tail.  The  colour 
is  a  beautiful  blueish  black,  which  sets  off  admirably 
a  red  or  white  flower. 

The  Japanese  woman  is  very  fond  of  European  per- 
fumes, and  drenches  herself  with  ylang-ylang,  eau  de 
Cologne,  etc. 

She  takes  a  bath  every  day,  and  washes  herself 
before  and  after  copulation,  as  the  European  prostitute 
does.  The  Annamite  woman  disdains  this  wholesome 
practice,  for  she  is  as  much  afraid  of  water  as  a  cat. 

In  spite  of  her  rather  flat  nose  (though  it  is  not  so 
flat  as  that  of  the  Annamite  woman)  the  Japanese 
looks  attractive  by  the  side  of  the  Congai,  and  even 
of  the  Chinese  woman.  It  might  be  said  of  her,  that 
she  has  a  pleasant  ugliness.  She  is  more  willing  than 
the  Chinese  woman  in  performing  the  genital  act,  but 
is  not  so  lascivious  as  the  Congai  who  has  been  well 
trained  by  an  experienced  Pha-lan-za. 

Of  all  the  women  of  the  Extreme  East,  the  Japanese  ^ 
approaches   the   nearest,  in  all  her  physical  and  moral 

'  Das    Wei'b,  vol.  I,  p.    i6o. 

*  To  show  the  extreme  difference  between  the  ideas  of  sexual  moral- 
ity of  the  Japanese  and  those  of  Europeans,  it  may  be  noted  that  it  is 
frequently  the  custom  in  Japan  for  a  woman  to  get  married  only  after 
having  passed  a  year  in  a  tea-house  (which  corresponds  witli  Euro- 
pean houses  of  prostitution)  and  to  whom  the  nakedness  of  women  (or 
of  men)  has  nothing  shocking  and  promiscuous  bathing,  without  any  veil 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  81 

qualities,  to  the  French  woman ;  she  is  very  gay,  and 
loves  to  chatter  and  laugh  with  those  who  can  under- 
stand her  funny  mixed  jargon. 

She  has  but  one  fault,  and  that  is  an  abominable 
habit  of  thickly  painting  her  face  with  white  lead 
and  Chinese  vermilion,  so  that  it  is  dangerous  to  kiss 
a  Japanese  girl  on  the  cheeks  in  the  European 
fashion. 

But  Japanese,  Chinese,  and  Annamite  women,  all 
branches  of  the  same  stock,  have  one  common  char- 
acteristic ;  they  do  not  kiss  with  the  mouth,  but  sniff 
through  the  nose. 

If  the  reader  is  anxious  to  know  what  these  priest- 
esses of  Venus  charge,  we  may  inform  him  that  they 
are  the  most  expensive  of  all.  They  ask  two  piasters 
for  an  hour  of  private  flirtation,  and  six  piasters  for 
an  entire  night,  whereas,  for  this  last  price,  you  could 
have  half  a  dozen  of  the  poor  girls  of  the  x\nnamite 
"bamboo".  These  last,  too,  never  dare  to  show  them- 
selves in  public  in  the  daytime,  outside  the  brothel, 
whilst  the  Japanese  girl,  accompanied  by  one  of  her 
comrades,  often  takes  a  zidore  (an  open  carriage)  and 
goes  for  a  drive. 

She  is  often  to  be  met  in  front  of  the  tiger's  cage, 
or  the  orang-utan's  hut,  at  the  Botanical  Gardens. 

The  Annamite  "  Daylight  Whore"  is  a  real  plague 

whatever  is  freely  indulged  in.  As  a  fact  any  Japanese  woman  may 
prostitute  herself  witliout  at  all  lessening  her  value  as   future  wife. 

In  Japan  pornography  is  unknown,  beaiuse  the  people  consider  cerUiin 
things  as  simply  natural,  and  call  them  by  their  names,  without  intending 
harm;  indecency  being  more  in  the  ihouglit  than  in  the  intention.  A 
clever  Japanese  once  said  to  a  European  tra\ellei :  "  how  cvil-rninded 
you  Europeans  are,  you  come  here  and  witness  things  ive  hold  as  quite 
natural,  and  then  go  and  describe  what  you  term  our  immorality. 


/f474  7 


82  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF 

to  the  European  bachelor.  She  introduces  herself 
into  your  house  between  noon  and  one  o'clock.  The 
officers,  and  functionaries,  who  are  returning  from  the 
mess,  or  the  restaurant,  meet  on  their  road,  in  the 
streets  a  little  removed  from  the  centre  of  the  town, 
groups  of  women  gathered  round  the  table  of  some 
itinerant  restaurateur,  or  seated  in  the  shadow  of  a 
tree.  It  is  not  necessary  to  enter  into  conversation 
with  one  of  them ;  a  gesture,  a  sign,  a  glance  will 
suffice,  and  even  if  you  are  passing  rapidly  in  a  car- 
riage, you  will  soon  be  followed  home. 

The  woman  who  prowls  about  the  town  has  gener- 
ally been  in  the  "bamboo",  and  like  the  maritiite  of 
Belleville,  she  has  her  souteneur,  who  protects  her 
from  the  police  officers.  These  policemen  are  natives, 
for,  in  the  hottest  hours  of  the  day,  it  would  be  dan- 
gerous for  a  Frenchman  to  be  out  in  the  streets;  they 
can  be  easily  bribed  to  shut  their  eyes. 

When  once  she  is  in  your  house,  the  daylight  whore 
begins  to  boast  of  her  knowledge  of  erotic  matters. 
"Me  good  whore,  ^7ie  know  much  Phalan-za.'"  She  is 
not  indignant  if  the  European,  disgusted  by  her  hor- 
rible odour,  proposes  sodomy.  She  will  even  forestall 
him  in  making  the  proposal,  and  if  that  is  not  agreed 
to,  will  suggest  the  kneeling  instead  of  the  horizontal 
position;  in  fact  there  is  no  practice  that  she  will  not 
lend  herself  to. 

It  is  a  simple  question  of  price.  She  will  usually 
begin  by  mentioning  in  advance,  the  price  she  asks 
for  such  a  kind  of  pleasure. 

We  sincerely  pity  the  poor  wretch,  who,  on  the 
strength  of  the  medical  certificate  she  shows  him  (usu- 
ajly  borrowed  from  some  woman  in  the  "  bamboo") 
sacrifices  to   Venus   in   the  natural  manner.     Syphilis, 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  83 

or  gonorrhoea  at  the  very  least,  will  teach  him  that 
Annamite  "  flowers"  have  thorns. 

When  once  she  has  been  in  your  house,  the  day- 
light whore  will  try  to  come  again,  and,  though  you 
may  refuse  her  admittance,  she  will  manage  to  elude 
the  "boys",  or  the  orderlies.  Some  day,  when,  after 
a  good  lunch,  you  are  sleeping  soundly  during  the 
siesta,  she  will  enter,  and  you  will  not  hear  the  stealthy 
foot-falls  of  her  light  feet.  She  has  noticed  on  which 
nail  you  hang  your  watch,  in  which  drawer  you  keep 
your  purse.  Everything  portable  of  value  will  disap- 
pear, and  you  will  never  again  see  your  gold  watch, 
which  she  has  sold  the  same  day  for  a  mere  trifle  to 
the  Chinese  goldsmith  and  jeweller,  who  will  perhaps 
give  her  in  exchange  a  pair  of  cheap  ear-rings. 

The  Annamite  Mistress  of  the  European.     x\s 

may  be  imagined,  the  European,  disgusted  with  the 
"  bamboo",  and  the  daylight  whores,  often  prefers  to 
have  a  woman  for  his  special  use.  If  he  should  pre- 
fer a  virgin,  he  may  purchase  from  her  parents,  for 
some  twenty  piasters,  a  young  girl  of  fifteen  or  six- 
teen, selected  from  those  whose  fate  it  would  ulti- 
mately be  to  be  sent  to  the  "bamboo." 

He  will  be  under  the  disagreeable  necessity  of  having 
to  break  in  a  young  savage,  who  knows  nothing.  It 
is  true  that  he  may  nurse  the  delusion  that  he  possesses 
a  virgin,  but,  as  we  have  seen,  there  are  not  many  of 
those  to  be  found.  Her  brothers  and  cousins  have 
already  tried  her.  There  are  also  various  annoyances, 
especially  in  the  interior  of  the  country.  Besides  the 
"portion"  to  be  paid  to  the  parents,  there  is — which 
is  much  more  serious — an  entire  outfit  to  be  bought 
for  the  "bride",  for  she  is  handed  over  to  you  scantily 


84  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

clad  in  a  ragged,   dirty,  cotton  chemise,  that  once  was 
white. 

If  you    are   an    officer,    or   official    of  any    sort  — an 
bng-quan — your    mistress  must  wear  a  costume  suited 
to  your  rank,  and  you  must  buy  for  her  the  complete 
outfit   of  a   woman    in    a   good  position  in  life,  which 
includes,    white,    blue,    and  black,  silk  chemises;  blue, 
red,   or   green   trousers ;    a   huge,    round   hat  with  silk 
ribbons    to    keep    it    on,   and  Chinese  varnished  shoes. 
Total    cost:  thirty  piasters.     But  that  is  not  all.     She 
must  have  two  bracelets,  one  in  gold,  and  one  in  sil- 
ver; two  gold  buttons  for  ear-rings;  a  necklace  in  sil- 
ver,  and   one  in    amber;    a   silver   leg   bangle,    and  a 
gold  finger  ring.     Cost:    120  to  130  piasters.     In  short, 
at  the  lowest  estimate,  you  wil  have  spent  150  piasters 
in  purchases,  and  that  with  the  marriage  portion,  and 
the  "  wedding"   expenses,  will  quickly  mount  up  to  200 
piasters,    that  is  to  say  ;440.     All  this  expense  is  in- 
curred,   and  after  all  you  only  possess  a  demi  vierge, 
who    is    a  little  fool,  only  fit  to  eat,  drink,  and  sleep, 
until  she  learns  the  way  to  the  baqua^i,  and  then  she 
will  let  herself  be  robbed  of  everything. 

Men  who  know  what  they  are  about,  prefer  to  take 
the  mistress  of  some  friend  or  colleague,  who  is  leaving 
the  colony,  and  thus  get  a  woman  who  has  had  some 
training,  requires  no  outfit,  and  understands  a  little 
French.  But,  whether  you  take  a  novice,  or  one  who 
is  broken  in,  )'^ou  have,  even  at  the  best,  a  spouse 
whose  fidelity  is  on  a  level  with  her  morality.  She 
will  sham  virtue  before  your  European  friends  and 
acquaintances.  She  will  boast  to  you  how  she  refused 
to  listen  to  those  who  tried  to  seduce  her.  But  she 
takes  her  fill  of  pleasure  with  Annamite  rascals,  who 
are  ready  and  willing  to  deceive  a  PJia-lan-za.    Some 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  85 

day  or  other,  the  officer  or  official,  who  believes  he 
possesses  a  pearl  of  virtue,  and  who  is  not  acquainted 
with  the  real  conduct  of  his  mistress,  will  cull  the  bitter 
fruit  of  the  kindness  she  has  shown  to  others. 

The  boy  Body-guard.  The  only  means  for  a 
European  to  prevent  his  Annamite  mistress  from  going 
wrong  with  the  first  gallant  she  meets,  is  to  set  his 
own  Annamite  boy  over  her  as  a  body-guard.  He 
will  play  the  part  of  the  gardener's  dog,  and  make  an 
excellent  sentinel ;  but,  being  more  knowing  than  the 
dog,  he  will  take  his  own  share,  and  become  the  third 
member  of  the  household. 

I  must  confess  that  this  method  is  wanting  in  moral- 
ity, but  it  is  the  only  one  which  affijrds  any  security 
from  venereal  diseases,  for  it  is  easy  to  look  after 
the  boy's  health,  and  as,  moreover,  he  will  jealously 
drive  away  all  other  rivals,  he  will  at  the  same  time 
be  working  for  his  master's  advantage.  The  method 
may  be  called  a  useful  precaution. 

EXCURSUS  I  TO  CHAPTER  V. 

Additional  Note.     On  the  Peculiar  and 
Expressive  Names  for  Prostitutes. 

ACCROCHEUSES  (man-hookers)—ALlC AIRES  (Hebes, 
so-called  because  in  ancient  Rome  they  used  to  offer 
wine  to  their  clients)  —Ambubayes  (courtesans,  from  the 
latin  ambubata,  flute-girl) — Bagasser  (drabs)— BALAN- 
CES DE  BOUCHER  QUI  PfeSENT  TOUTES  SORTES  DE 
VIANDES  (butchers'  scales  which  weigh  all  sorts  of 
meat)— Barathres  (sinks  of  perdition) — BasSARAS 
(prostitutes,  from  the  Greek) — Bezoches  (street- women) 

— BLANCHISSEUSES    DE    TUYAUX    DE   PIPES   (pipe-stem 


86  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

cleaners)  —  BONSOIRS     (good-nights)  —  BoURBETEUSES 
(puddle-trotters)— Br  AYDONES      (ensnarers) — Caignar- 
DIJfcRES     (good-for-nothings) — Cailles     (quails) — Cam- 
BROUSES    (filthy  sluts)— Cantonnieres   (street-corner- 
girls) — Champisses  (strumpets) — Cloistrieres  (cloister 
girls) — COQUATRIS  (cockatrices) — CoiGNEES  (women  on 
the  town) — Cqurieuses  (inquisitive  dames) — DEMOISEL- 
LES DU  MARAIS  (young  ladies  from  the  swamp) — Droui- 
NES    (trollops) — Drues    (smart  lasses)— Ensaign antes 
(teachers)— EsQUOCERESSES  (cooks  for  meat) — Femmes 
DE     COURT     talon     (short-heeled     women) — Femmes 
FOLLES  DE  LEUR  corps  (women  mad  with  wantonness) 
— EOLLES  d' AMOUR  (love-stricken  women) — FiLLES  DE 
JOIE    (glee    maidens)— FiLLES    DE  Jubilation   (joyful 
romps) — FiLLETTES     DE    PIS     (well-breasted    lasses) — 
FOLLES     FEMMES     (wantons) — FOLIEUSES    (frolicsome 
wenches)— Galloises  (gallic  or  merry  maidens)— J AN- 
NETONS    (back-gammon    girls)— Gast    (belly   lasses)— 
Gaultieres  (whores) — GaupeS  (vicious  sluts,  derived 
from    guepe,     a    wasp)— GONDINES    (loose    women) — 
Godinettes    (diminutive    of  the  preceding)  — Gouges  or 
GouiNES    (prostitutes,    derived    from    the    old    French 
verb   goyr,    to    enjoy) — Gourgandines   (low    women, 
from  gourganne,  the  commonest  sort  of  bean,  the  food 
of  convicts)— Grues    (cranes,    a   nickname   for  street- 
whores)— Harrebanes  (prostitutes)— Holliere  (a  loose 
woman,    from  the  verb  holler,  to  gad  about)^HORES 
(whores) — Hourieuses   (women  to  let  by  the  hour) — 
HOURIERES    (the    same    as   the    preceding) — Lesbines 
(Lesbians,  or  women  addicted  to  vice)— Lescheresses 
(lecherous  women)— Lev RIERS  d' amour  (love-harriers, 
procuresses) — Linottes     C0lFF:feES   (hnnets   with    caps 
on     their     heads)  -  Loudteres     (s  trumpets) — LOUVES 
(wolve-bitches)  -  Lyces    (bitches)— MandroUNOS  (pro- 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  87 

curesses) — Manefle  (a  Languedocian  word  signifying 
procuress) — Marane  (vile  woman,  the  female  of 
maran,  a  miscreant) — Maraude  (a  roguish  hedge- 
whore)— MARTINGALE  (a  lewd  woman)— Maxim  AS 
(bawds) — MOCHES  (prostitutes,  from  the  Latin  mcecha, 
a  fornicatrix) — MUSEQUINES  (gay  harlots,  the  name  is 
in  reality  an  allusion  to  the  gadfly). — Pannanesses 
(dirty  drabs,  from  the  Greek  ivxvoq,  a  rag) — Panton- 
NIERES  (harlots) — Femmes  de  peche  (sinful  women) 
— Pelerines  de  Venus  (Pilgrims  of  Venus)— Pel- 
LICES  (courtesans,  from  the  Latin  pellex,  a  concubine 
or  mistress  of  a  married  man) — Personnieres  (female 
{>artners  for  enjoyment)— POSOER A  (a  woman  who  can 
put  it  in  j-z'/m)  —  POSTIQUEUSES  (vagrant  whores) — 
Pr^SENTI^res  (women  who  give  themselves  for  pre- 
sents)— Pretresses  de  Venus  (priestesses  of  Venus) 
— Rafaitiere  (a  bawd  and  procuress)— Femme  de 
MAL  RECapte  (women  of  bad  repute,  from  the  Spanish 
recato,  proper  conduct) — Redresseuse  (prostitute  and 
thief) — Reveleuse  (a  clandestine  whore) — RiBAULDES 
(low  harlots) — RlCALDEX  (a  long-tongued  and  short- 
heeled  whore  [C<5'/?^raz'^])— RiGOBETTE  (a  merry  loose 
woman,  from  the  verbe  rigober,  to  enjoy  life) — ROUS- 
SECAIGNES  (strumpets,  literally  red  bitches,  from  rousse, 
red,  and  chienne,  a  bitch) — Sacs-de-NUIT  (night-bags) 
— Saffrettes  (merry  wantons,  from  saffrett\  wanton 
dallying) — SOURDITES  (prostitutes)— SCALDRINES  (squa- 
lid drabs,  from  the  Italian  squallida) — TENDRlfeRES 
DE  BOUCHE  et  DE  REINS  (women  offering  mouth  and 
hips)  — Tl REUSES  DE  ViNAlGRE  (Vinegar  drawers)  — 
TOUPIES,  (spinning  tops,  or  loose  wenches) — TOUSE 
(women  on  the  town  who  fleece  greenhorns,  from  the 
verb  TOUSER,  to  pluck  or  shear,  is  also  applied  to 
woman  in  general) — TroTTIEre  (one  who   trots  about 


88  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

the  streets) — Viageres  (women  who  roam  about) — 
Femmes  de  vie  (fast  women)— ViLLOTlERES  (gadding 
bawds)— VoY AG ERES  (travelling  prostitutes) —Wauves 
(Drabs) — Usageres  (women  for  general  use). 

Besides  the  above  expressions  in  use  in  the  XVIth 
century  there  are  several  others  invented  since  that 
period,  such  are  the  following: 

Gaures  or  GORRES  (literally  means,  sows) — Fri- 
QUENELLES  (base  dirty  trulls) — Images  (pretty  faced 
girls)— POUPINES  (chubby-cheeked  lasses) —POUPINET- 
TES  (diminutive  of  the  preceding) — Bringue  (a  common 
hussy) — Bagues  (rings;  the  allusion  requires  no  ex- 
planation)— SUCREES  PAILLASSES  (sweet  mattresses) — 
Paillardes  (lewd  women) — Brimballeuses  (women 
who  tumble  topsy-turvy) — Seranes  (prostitutes  who 
entice  their  customers  from  their  windows;  they  do 
not  walk  the  street)  -Chouettes  (night-birds) — Capres 
(capers)  —Chevres  (she-goats)— Ancelles  (wilHng  ser- 
vants, from  the  Latin  Ancilla,  a  hand-maiden) — 
GuALLEFRETiERES  (frisky  whores)— Peaultre  (a 
woman  of  questionable  character) — Peau  (the  same  as 
above) — Galliere  (for  galley,  synonymous  with  the 
English  "a  tidy  httle  craft  ")—CONSrEURS  (coy 
sisters) — Bas-culz  (low-gaps). 

The  foregoing  list,  which  will  not  fail  to  interest 
philologists,  has  been  drawn  in  large  part,  from  the 
important  "  Glossairc  pour  les  Oeuvres  dc  Rabelais  " 
(Paris,  1837);  we  have  added  an  English  translation 
of  these  queer  epithets,  and  where  possible,  explained 
the  derivation  of  the  word.  In  its  present  form  it  will 
we  hope,  be  found  useful  to  linguistic  students  for 
whom  alone  it  is  intended. 

For  the  meaning  of  a  number  of  the  above  expressions 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  89 

we  consulted  a  book  published  under  the  following 
pompous  title:  — "  Vocabida  Amatoria :  a  French- 
English  glossary  of  words,  phrases  and  alhisions  occur- 
ing  in  the  works  of  Rabelais,  Voltaire,  Moliere, 
Rousseau,  Beranger,  Zola,  and  others,  with  English 
equivalents  and  syfionyms''  (London,  1896),  and  to  our 
astonishment  we  found  that  words  of  vastly  different 
import  had  been  all  baldly  rendered — "prostituted" 
without  any  attempt  at  differentiation  of  the  various 
and  peculiar  shades  of  meaning.  "  Vocabula  Amatoria  " 
appears  to  us  suspiciously  like  a  badly  executed  re- 
hash of  Delvau's  "  Dictio?7?2aire  Erotique "  carelessly 
rushed  through  the  press. 

For  more  modern  epithets  not  given  in  the  preceding 
list  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  Dictionnaire  Erotique 
Latin  et  Eranfais  par  Nicolas  Blondeau.  (Liseux, 
Paris,   1885.) 

EXCURSUS    II    TO    CHAPTER    V. 

Translation  of  Note  I  on  p.  6o. 

The  patients  took  care  in  the  first  place,  to  entirely 
remove  the  hair  from  all  parts  of  the  body  {a)  from  the 
lips,  arms,  chest,  legs,  the  virile  parts,  and  in  parti- 
cular, from  the  altar  of  passive  lust,  the  anus. 

"Iplucft  out  tbe  bafr  from  breast  an&  legs  an&  arms; 
Zb'Q  rfglJ>  member  must  be  free  from  fur. 
"Me  know  sou  to  Do  tbls,  Xabienus,  for  gour  laO^^love 
:l6ut  wbg,  Xabienus,  J)o  tbis  to  gour  anus  1 " 

Martial,  II,  62, 

limblle  gou,  Cbrestus,  appear  tbus  wftb  i^our  parts  all  bairless, 
TKHitb  a  mentula  like  to  tbe  neck  of  a  vulture, 
a  beat)  more  sbinlng  tban  a  prostitute's  buttocks 

(a)  Always  excepting  the  hair  of  the  head  of  which  great  care  was  taken. 
(Horace,  Ode  X  book  IV.) 


90  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

Mttb  not  a  bair  appearing  on  igouc  leg, 

Bn&  witb  Bouc  palU&  lips  all  sborn  an&  bare .... 

Martial.  IX,  28. 

Translation  of  Note  i  p.  6o. 
"  To   pluck   out   the   hair,  get  the  hair  on  the  head 
curled,  to  drink  in  the  baths  to  excess;  still  they  can- 
not be  said  to  be  customary;  for  nothing  of  all  this  is 
exempt  from  blame. 

(QuiNTiixiAN,  Oratorical  Inst.   i.  6.) 
Vide  FORBERG'S  famous  edition  of  ""  An ^o mi  Panor- 
rnitae   HERMAPHRODITUS,  pornius  in  Germania 
edidit  et   APOPHORETA   adjecit  Coburgi  Sumtibus 
Meuseliorum   1824. 

Translation  of  Note  i  p.  62. 
"I  have  heard  it  related  by  Madame  de  Fontaine- 
Chanlandry  called  the  beautiful  Torcy,  that  the  queen 
Eleonora,  {a)  her  mistress,  being  dressed  and  arrayed, 
appeared  a  very  handsome  princess,  as  there  are  still 
many  who  have  seen  her  so  at  our  Court;  but  being 
undressed,  her  body  seemed  that  of  a  giant,  so  long 
and  great  was  it:  but  lower  down,  she  appeared  a 
dwarf,  so  short  had  she  thighs  and  legs  and  the  rest. 


(a)  Queen  Eleonora,  sister  of  Charles  V.  became,  at  the  signing  of  the 
peace  of  Cambrai,  the  wife  of  Frauds  I,  who  then  had  been  for  some 
years  a  widower.     (See  Brantome's    Vie  des  Datms  galantes,  p.   207.) 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Peiverted  passions  amongst  the  Annamiies. — Male  ptostitulioti. 
—  The  '■'nay"  and  the  "boy". —  Gamblers,  thieves,  and  sodom- 
ites.—  Usual  methods  of  the  Annamite  pederasts.— The  Chinese 
pederast.—  The  shop  of  Ach.,  the  Chinaman.  —  The  male  house 
of  prostitution  at  Cho-lon.  —  Horrible  immorality  of  the  Chinese 
actors  who  play  women's  parts. 

Perverted    passions    amongst    the    Annamites. 

At  the  head  of  this  and  the  following  chapter,  I 
might  say  with  Tardieu,  quoting  Fodere,  "  Why 
cannot  I  avoid  sullying  my  pen  with  an  account  of  the 
infamous  wickedness  of  pederasts?  Like  Fodere,  I 
hesitated  as  to  whether  I  should  insert  in  this  work 
the  repulsive  picture  of  sodomy,  but  I  was  bound  to 
confess  that  it  was  a  necessary  supplement,  and  also 
the  part  of  the  subject  least  known. 

What  Tardieu  and  Martineau  have  done  for  Paris, 
that  pandemonium  of  all  the  vices,  I  ought  to  do  for 
foreign  countries.  It  is  necessary  for  me  to  include  a 
study  of  the  "  aberrations  of  love  passions  in  the  Col- 
onies",   or   otherwise    the  work  would  be  incomplete. 

Male  Prostitution.  ^     The  Extreme  East  enjoys  the 

'  The  prostitution  of  the  male  was  not  unknown  amongst  the 
Hebrews.  (Cf.  Jof.l,  III,  3;  Machab.,  II,  IV,  12.)  Bat  the  laws 
struck  at  the  pederast  with  no  gloved  hand,  and  the  punishment  that 
followed  was  terrible.  (Cf.  Gen.,  XIX,  24  et  seq  ;  Lev  XVIII,  22,  29  ; 
Deut.,  XXVIII,  27;  Romans  I,  27.)     In  Rome  this  infamous  usage 

91 


92  UNTRODDE>^   FIELDS  OF 

wretched  privilege  of  being  the  chief  nucleus  of  peder- 
astic  vice. 

With  the  exception  of  shopmen,  and  employes  in 
small  businesses,  the  Annamites  reside  in  the  villages 
round  Saigon,  and  it  is  only  the  nays  and  the  boys 
who  come  in  direct  and  permanent  contact  with  the 
Europeans.  Nay  signifies  "  basket ".  The  nays  are 
children  of  from  seven  to  fifteen  years,  who  are  pro- 
vided with  round  baskets.  They  are  found  on  the 
quays,  in  the  market,  and  in  front  of  the  shops,  wait- 
ing for  a  customer  to  make  a  purchase  of  any  kind. 
The  nay,  or  "  basket " ,  is  thin  and  wretched ;  he  wears 
his  hair  long  and  hanging  behind  him.  He  abounds 
at  Saigon,  and  it  is  from  these  baskets  that  the  class 
of  boys  is  recruited. 

These  latter  are  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five  years  of 
age ;  they  are  essentially  liars,  debauchees,  gamblers, 
and  thieves.  Woe  betide  the  European  who  leaves, 
for  an  hour,  the  key  in  the  lock  of  the  drawer,  or 
cupboard,  in  which  he  keeps  his  piasters ;  he  is  sure 
to  be  robbed.  The  boy  waits  at  table,  or  acts  as 
valet, — both    in    the   most   imperfect   manner.  ^     It    is 

was    in    full    swing    and    moreover  practised  openly  :  —  (See  HoR.,   Sat. 

I,  2,  ii6;  Mart.,  XI  46;  Mart.,  IX,  9;  Juvenal,  VI,  34.)  The 
Vocabulary  used  to  designate  these  auvergvats  was  very  varied  i.e. 
Cinaedi;  Pathici;  Pcedicator;  Spado;  Prater;  Pusio;  Concubinus; 
Catamitus.  Juvenal  held,  that  the  malady  was  fatal  and  could  be 
recognised  both  by  the  expression  of  the  face  and  general  bearing:  — 
"Hunc  ego  fat  is  Imputo,  qui  vultu  il/or3«;«  incessuque  fatetur."     (Juv., 

II,  16.) — "I  attribute  to  the  fates  his  malady  which  he  acknowledges,  etc." 

'  From  the  writer's  experience  of  some  years'  residence  in  India,  the 
native  boy  contrast  very  favourably  with  his  Annamite  confrere,  with 
whom  he  only  shares  the  pilfering  propensities.  He  however  never 
steals  money,  jewelry  or  portable  objects,  but  will  not  hesitate  to  cheat 
his  master  in  his  marketings.  A  gentleman  in  Bangalore,  having  perceived 
this,    upbraided   his   cansammah    or   butler  for  so  doing,  whereupon  the 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  93 

nearly  impossible  to  obtain  any  regular  work  from  him, 
for  he  is  absent  great  part  of  the  day,  and  all  the 
night.  For  costume,  he  wears  a  little  jacket,  buttoning 
down  the  front,  and  white  cotton,  wide  pantaloons, 
with  a  belt  of  red  silk,  the  end  of  it  hanging  down  in 
front.  To  this  belt  hangs  a  small  silk  purse,  lined 
with  hide,  and  ornamented  with  designs  in  gilt  copper 
filagree  work.  The  boy's  hair  is  rolled  up,  and  encircled 
by  a  silk  handkerchief;  the  hair  is  often  kept  in  place 
by  a  shell  comb. 

Annamite   Gamblers,  Thieves,  and  Sodomites. 

In  short,  the  basket  and  the  boy  are  gamblers,  thieves, 
and  sodomites.  Are  they  sodomites  simply  that  they 
may  earn  money  to  satisfy  their  other  vices?  That  is 
the  theory  of  certain  Annamitophiles,  who  pretend  that 
this  vice  was  introduced  by  the  European  conquest. 
It  was  nothing  of  the  kind.  The  Annamite  is  a  sodom- 
ite because  he  is  lascivious.  He  belongs  to  an  old 
civilized  race  that  is  now  rotten.  Vice  was  innate, 
and  the  Europeans  found  it  flourishing,  and  some 
(very  few,  let  us  hope)  have  taken  advantage  of  it. 

The  Frenchman  who  goes  to  the  Antilles,  Guiana, 
or  Senegal,  has  not  introduced  sodomy  and  pederasty 
into  those  countries,  because  the  natives  of  those 
countries  abhor  those  vices.  The  same  Frenchman, 
arrived  in  Cochin-China,  has  become  a  sodomite  or  a 
pederast,  because  he  has  found,  without  the  trouble  of 
seeking,  women  and  children  who  have  afforded  him 
the  opportunity.     It  is  necessary  to  point  out  a  mistake 

latter  replied:  "  Yes  sah  /  very  true,  me  do  little  market  robbery,  but 
me  no  let  anybody  else  rob  master."  When  the  gentleman  related  this 
to  a  lady  friend  of  his,  long  a  resident  in  India,  she  at  once  exclaimed : 
"  Never  get  rid  of  that  boy,   if  you  can  help  it,  he  is  a  je-u-el.'* 


94  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF 

that  has  been  thoughtlessly  repeated  by  many  travellers, 
that  the  soldiers  of  the  Expeditionary  Corps  had  acquired, 
in  the  Chinese  campaign,  certain  depraved  habits,  which 
they  afterwards  carried  into  Cochin-China,  where  they 
have  taken  root.  These  travellers  forget  that  the 
Chinese  came  to  Cochin-China  several  centuries  before 
we  did,  and  have  had  plenty  of  time  to  vitiate  the 
manners  of  the  natives. 

We  must  not  even  accuse  the  Chinaman,  for  the 
Annamite  is  naturally  quite  as  depraved  as  he  is,  if 
not  more  so, — which  is  saying  a  good  deal.  Nays  and 
boys  are  a  kind  of  living  merchandise  which  offers 
itself. 

The  nay  is  like  the  little  girl  not  yet  arrived  at 
puberty,  who  offers  you  flowers  on  the  boulevards  of 
Paris,  and  whose  parents  speculate  on  the  debauchery 
of  roues,  broken-down  in  health,  and  of  perverted 
morals.  Instead  of  a  little  girl,  it  is  a  little  boy.  He 
has  no  flowers,  and  gains  his  living  by  means  of  a 
basket.  For  a  tai-an  (a  penny),  he  will  put  your  pur- 
chases into  his  basket,  and  docilely   follow  you  home. 

When  once  he  gets  to  your  house,  if  he  should 
suspect  that  you  have  depraved  tastes,  he  will  soon 
offer  you  his  services :  "  Captain  "  (everybody  was  a 
captain  in  186 — )  "  me  much  know  chewchew  banana," 
and  if  the  client  appeared  to  hesitate,  "  me  know 
ablic."  That  is  sahir  (patois).  Chewchew  means  to 
eat.  The  banana  is  the  well-known  fruit  of  the  tropics, 
which  resembles  in  shape  a  penis  afflicted  with  phi- 
mosis; ablic  is  the  corrupt  form  of  an  Annamite  word 
signifying  the  act  of  sodomy,  and  the  word  is  as  cynic- 
ally coarse  and  expressive  as  the  vulgar  French  verb, 
which  corresponds  to  it.  It  existed  before  our  arrival, 
whilst  the    equivalent   for   the   word   "  modesty "  does 


AKTHROPOLOGY.  95 

not  exist  in  the  Annamite  language.     That  is  a  double 
philological  proof. 

By  way  of  reply,  the  77ay  generally  receives  a  good 
kick  on  the  backside,  in  which  case  he  slinks  away, 
and  says  nothing.  In  the  case  of  acceptance,  he  knows 
that  the  most  suitable  time  is  the  hour  of  the  siesta, 
after  the  midday  cannon  has  been  fired. 

About  a  quarter  past  twelve,  a  shadow  will  steal 
furtively  into  the  chamber  of  the  pederast.  Like  the 
daylight  whore,  the  nay  knows  some  means  of  pene- 
trating, without  being  seen,  into  a  house  in  which, 
perhaps,  several  Europeans  live  together. 

If  the  nay,  a  child  not  arrived  at  puberty,  and 
generally  dirty  and  disgusting,  displeases  him,  the 
depraved  European  has,  in  the  evening,  recourse  to 
the  boy.  He  is  about  i6  to  20  years  old;  he  is  a 
former  nay  raised  to  the  dignity  of  a  boy.  The  boy 
works  in  the  evening,  after  nine  o'clock  and  before 
midnight,  after  he  has  left  his  master's  house.  He  is  not 
averse  to  easily  gaining  a  piaster,  with  which  he  can  try 
his  luck  at  baquan.  "We  may  here  note  that,  owing  to 
the  difference  in  the  value  of  money  thirty  years  ago, 
a  piaster  in  Cochin-China  was  worth  a  louis  in  France. 

Though  the  boy  often  wears  a  handsome  silk  costume, 
a  handkerchief  round  his  head,  and  a  red,  or  sky-blue, 
girdle  round  his  waist,  his  body  is  quite  as  dirty  as 
that  of  the  nay.  The  most  elementary  notions  of 
cleanliness  are  unknown  to  him.  Unlike  the  Chinese, 
he  never  washes  himself  all  over;  not  a  bucket  of 
water  is  ever  emptied  over  his  head;  and  this  in  a 
country  where  the  lowest  temperature,  day  or  night, 
is  77°F.  It  is  difficult,  even  to  get  him  to  wash  his 
hands  before  waiting  at  table.  The  Annamite  is  as 
lewd  as  a  monkey,  and  has  the  same  dread  of  water. 


96  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

Methods  used  by  the  Pederasts.     The  nay  and 

the  boy  are  generally — to  use  Tardieu's  expression — 
"  suckers  of  the  dart.  "  It  must  not  be  supposed  that 
this  depraved  Asiatic  feels  any  repugnance,  or  has 
any  objection,  to  this  disgusting  habit.  He  has  even 
less  than  the  daylight  whore,  who  is  also  willing  to 
perform  the  same  operation.  Whilst  the  European  lies 
at  full  length  on  a  long  chair,  or  on  his  bed,  the  boy, 
— kneeling  or  stooping, — i?iguma  osculatur,  sugit,  emis- 
sumque  semen  t7i  bucca  recipit,  usque  ad  iiltima77i  g^itta^n . 

Although  by  preference  a  "sucker  of  the  dart ",  the 
nay,  or  the  boy,  will  not  refuse  sodomy,  but  he  is  not 
enthusiastic  about  it.  It  is  not  any  moral  reason 
which  slops  him,  for  he  is  above  prejudices  of  that 
sort.  It  is  simply  the  disproportion  which  exists 
between  the  anus  of  a  lad  of  ten  or  twelve  years, 
and  the  penis  of  an  adult  European,  for  two  nays 
have  no  objection  to  committing  the  actwith  one  another. 

When  the  nay  attains  the  age  of  sixteen,  and  has 
little  by  little  become  used  to  the  business,  he  will 
not  raise  any  objection,  for  the  vice  has  by  that  time 
become  a  morbid  habit  with  him.  He  seeks  oppor- 
tunities and  occasions,  with  as  much  pleasure  as  a 
woman  seeks  copulation.  This  depraved  taste  becomes 
a  pressing  need  with  him.  I  can  even  say  more:  I 
have  known  Europeans  in  whom  this  "  passive  taste  " 
was  so  developed,  and  who  went  so  far  as  to  give 
themselves  up  to  the  lewd  caresses  of  their  boys.  I 
trust  I  shall  be  excused  for  not  dilating  on  this  sub- 
ject, and  merely  mentioning  it  in  passing. 

The    Chinese    Pederast.  *    I   have   said  that  the 

'  Ellis    in    Introduction    to    his    book    on    ''Sexual   Inversion"    (') 

(')  London,  1897  (pages  6 — 7).  The  render  interested  in  this  curious 
aberration  should  attentively  read  this  valuable  work  in  its  entirety. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  97 

Chinese  are  boys  in  tlie  restaurants,  and  coolc-sliops. 
As  a  house-3^^',  tlie  Chinese  costs  much  more  than  the 
Annamite,  but  he  has  the  appreciable  advantage  of 
being"  much  cleaner.  The  Chinaman  washes  himself 
thoroughly  morning  and  evening,  emptying  two  or 
three  buckets  of  water  over  his  head.  The  clothes 
he  wears  are  usually  very  clean,  and  instead  of  walk- 
ing barefoot,  he  wears  shoes  with  thick  soles,  He  has 
not,  either,  the  characteristic  stink  of  the  Annamite  hoy. 
He  comes  to  Saigon  at  the  age  of  ten  or  twelve, 
and   first    acts    as   a    boy,    then    as    a  cook,  and  finally 

calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  "  homosexual  "  practices  exist  and  have  long 
existed  in  most  parts  of  the  world  outside  Europe,  even  when  subserving 
no  obvious  end.  How  far  they  are  associated  with  congenital  inversion 
is  usually  very  doubtful.  In  China,  for  instince,  it  seems  that  there  are 
special  houses  devoted  to  male  prostitution,  though  less  numerous  than  the 
houses  devoted  to  females.  When  a  rich  man  gives  a  feast  he  sends 
for  women  to  cheer  the  repast  by  music  and  song  and  for  boys  to  serve 
at  table  and  to  entertain  the  guests  by  their  lively  conversation.  The 
young  people  have  been  carefully  brought  up  for  this  occupation,  receiving 
an  excellent  education,  and  their  mental  qualities  are  more  highly  valued 
than,  their  physical  attractiveness.  The  women  are  less  carefully  brought 
up  and  less  esteemed.  After  the  meal  the  lads  usually  return  home 
with  a  considerable  fee.  What  further  occurs  the  Chinese  say  little 
about.  It  seems  that  real  and  deep  affection,  is  often  born  of  these 
relations,  at  lirst  platonic,  but  in  the  end  becoming  physical — not  a 
matter  for  great  concern  in  the  eyes  of  the  Chinese.  In  the  Chinese 
novels,  often  of  a  very  literary  character,  devoted  to  masculine  love,  it 
seems  that  all  the  preliminaries  and  transports  of  normal  love  are  to  be 
found,  while  physical  union  may  terminate  the  scene.  (*')  In  China, 
however,  the  law  may  be  brought  into  action  for  attempts  against  nature 
even  with  mutual  consent ;  the  penalty  is  one  hundred  strokes  with  the 
bamboo  and  a  month's  imprisonment;  if  there  is  violence  the  penalty  is 
decapitation ;  (^)   I   am   not  able  to  say   how   far  the  law   is  a  dead  letter. 

(')  Morache,  Art.  "Chine",  Diet.  Ency.  dcs  Sci.  Med.  In  Annan, 
also,  according  to  Mondi^re  [J/em.  Soc.  d' Anthrop.  T.  i.  p.  465), 
pederasty  has  always  existed,  especially  among  young  people. 

(')   Pauthicr,    Chine  Modenie,   p.    25 1. 


98  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS   OF 

takes  a  wife.  Before  he  arrives  at  that,  he  has  taken 
his  part  in  the  male  prostitution  of  Saigon,  but  in  a 
most  discreet  and  guarded  manner.  In  the  evening, 
you  may  see  Chinese  boys  leave  their  master's  house, 
and  act  as  rivals  to  the  Annamite  boys.  But,  gener- 
ally speaking,  the  mouth  sucking  disgusts  him  as  much 
as  it  pleases  the  other;  he  contents  himself  with  anal 
copulation,  active  or  passive. 

Not  only  the  Chinese  boy,  but  also  the  employes  in 
houses  of  business,  tailors,  boot-makers,  etc.,  also  give 
themselves  up  to  prostitution.  It  is  rare  for  a  China- 
man of  that  social  position,  when  he  finds  himself 
alone  with  a  depraved  European,  to  refuse  to  yield  to 
his  wishes.  He  does  it,  not  so  much  for  the  money 
he  may  get  by  it,  as  for  the  pleasure;  but  if  the 
European  has  connection  with  an  itinerant  dealer  in 
curiosities,  he  will  be  forced  to  make  some  purchases, 
and  these  purchases  will  often  have  to  be  renewed. 

A  European  friend  of  mine  used  to  receive,  at  ten 
o'clock  every  morning,  a  number  of  young  Chinese 
merchants,  who  used  to  besiege  the  door  of  his  lodging, 
which  was  adjacent  to  mine.  Two  never  entered  to- 
gether; the  one  who  arrived  last  would  discreetly 
stand  at  the  street  door,  or  in  the  shadow  of  a  tree, 
waiting  his  turn.  At  last  I  learned  the  secret  of  this 
comedy. 

One  of  these  young  Chinese  merchants,  whom  I  had 
occasion  to  attend  medically,  told  me  in  return,  and 
out  of  gratitude,  some  strange  revelations  concerning 
the  unnatural  customs  of  the  great  majority  of  his 
compatriots,  who  belonged  to  the  same  social  category. 
Each  patron  disposes  of  his  employe's  and  apprentices, 
according  to  his  humour,  and  his  taste.  These  youths 
also  form  love  liaisons  between  themselves,  and  Orestes 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  99 

and  Pylades  are  not  uncommon  amongst  the  people 
with  pig-tails.  They  usually  change  parts  alternately, 
each  being  in  turn  husband  or  wife.  Later, — as  the 
perverted  passions  increase  with  age, — when  the  genital 
powers  decrease,  and  they  become  masters  in  their 
turn,  the  passive  part  is  the  only  one  that  suits  them. 
By  "natural  selection",  the  Chinaman  seeks  out  the 
European  who  is  addicted  to  the  same  vice. 

Dr.  Schlegel,  who  resided  as  a  medical  practitioner 
in  Canton,  had  uncommon  opportunities  of  noting  the 
Chinaman's  proclivities  and  we  quote  the  following 
remarks  from  his  interesting  little  study  on  the  subject : 

"In  the  neighbouring  town  of  Tscha7ig  tscheoe.  the 
number  of  female  prostitutes  is  relatively  small,  whereas 
on  the  contrary  the  town  swarms  with  individuals 
addicted  to  passions  contrary  to  nature,  to  such  an 
extent  that  it  is  said : 

Tsiang  tsioe  kaan  a  thoen,  Emoei  tsa  bo  soe.  [In 
urhe  Tchang  tcheoii  cata?niti,  in  urbe  Emoi  meretrices.) 

Nearly  all  the  people  there  practise  this  vice,  not  in 
secret,  but  openly.  At  Canton  there  exists  one  word 
only  to  designate  Aviasii;  it  is  the  word  Khai  taai 
which  is  considered  to  be  a  grave  and  ignominious 
insult,  whereas  the  dialect  of  Fokie  is  very  rich  in 
expressions  to  designate  these  children  and  their 
trade. 

Like  the  Romans  who  had  their  Pathici,  their 
Ephebi,  Gemclli,  Catamiti,  Amasii,  the  Chinese  have 
their  sio  kia  a,  little  boys,  sio  kia  tsia,  pretty  httle  boys, 
tshat  sia  kia,  young  brigands,  ka  thang  a,  little 
basins  for  the  feet,  etc.  For  obscene  manoeuvres  they 
have  numerous  expressions,  of  which  we  may  cite  the 
following :  Ke  Kaam  (ut  galliis  facer e  coitum),  ka  ka 
tsiah    (mordcrc    dorsum),    kia   soa    lo  {in  viarfi  montis 


100  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS    OF 

ire),  ho  laam  hojig  (puerorum  voluptatis  frtii),  to  saat 
thang  (volutare  in  sterculinio). 

One  only  of  their  expressions  would  seem  to  indicate 
the  shameful  nature  of  the  act :  that  is  Gik  thien  so 
king  (to  act  contrary  to  the  course  of  nature).  Besides, 
the  following  proverb  shows  how  small  is  the  number : 
it  ta,  dzie  hong,  sa  i  si  pi  (de  omnibus  vitiis  viasturbatio 
vilissimum,  turn  polutio  nocturna,  pccderastia  tandem 
necnon  meretriciiim).  Although  they  consider  solitary 
pleasures  to  be  the  worst  and  the  most  immoral,  yet 
children  and  grown  up  people  are  much  addicted  to 
them.  It  is  to  this  unfortunate  habit  that  may  be  attri- 
buted the  laziness  and  cowardice  of  the  greater  part 
of  the  Chinese,  particularly  in  the  province  of  Fokie. 
They  devote  themselves  only  to  tranquil  occupations 
such  as  agriculture  and  commerce,  and  avoid  all  work 
at  all  violent,  as  also  the  profession  of  arms.  The 
absence  of  this  vice  which  weakens  the  body,  kills 
moral  energy,  renders  Canton  Chinamen  far  more 
energetic.  That  is  why  all  works  requiring  physical 
.strength  in  the  Dutch  colonies  are  done  by  Chinese 
coolies  from  Canton.  That  is  why  also  the  Canton 
districts  supply  such  a  large  contingent  of  labourers 
to  the  colonial  mines,  and  that  its  inhabitants  are  far 
more  enterprising  and  less  effeminate  than  the  Chinese 
of  the  other  provinces.  It  is  doubtless  for  the  same 
reason  that  the  Canton  Chinese  who  accompanied  the 
Anglo-French  expedition  to  Pekin,  and  who  were  known 
by  the  name  of  the  Bamboo  rifles,  behaved  so  valiantly. 
In  the  midst  of  showers  of  bullets,  they  carried  off  the 
wounded  and  brought  ammunition  to  the  troops,  while 
with  the  greatest  coolness  they  greeted  each  murder- 
ous volley  with  shouts  of  joy. 

It  is  this  shameful  self-abuse  that  renders  all  China- 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  101 

men,  excepting  those  of  Canton,  cowardly,  effeminate, 
perfidious  and  false.  We  see  the  same  effects  pro- 
duced upon  Europeans  who  give  themselves  up  to  these 
shameful  practices,  and  we  notice  that  among  the  Chi- 
nese the  same  causes  produce  similar  effects.  It  is  not 
rare  to  meet  in  the  province  of  Fok'ie  with  young  men 
of  from  20  to  25  years  old  completely  ruined  in  health 
and  suffering  from  continual  spermatorrhcea.  Such  is 
the  condition  of  that  province.  Let  us  now  glance  at 
the  northern  provinces,  as  far  as  they  are  known  to 
Europeans;  let  us  hasten  to  quit  as  speedily  as  possible 
these  details  of  debauchery,  and  finish  our  task.  In 
these  provinces  the  vice  against  nature  prevails  in  the 
highest  degree.  The  Anglo-French  expedition  found 
there  a  debauchery  so  immense  and  so  abominable, 
that  it  is  no  wonder  that  a  handful  of  Europeans  could 
drive  into  flight  the  innumerable  armies  opposed  to  them 
by  China. 

In  Canton  we  find  that  this  vice  prevails  mostly 
among  the  governing  officials,  who,  during  their  fre- 
quent journeys,  find  it  more  convenient  to  be  followed 
by  young  boys  than  by  women,  but  it  is  there  held 
in  abomination.  In  the  province  of  Fokie  we  find  the 
Amasii,  domestic  slaves;  but  in  Pekin  the  same  indi- 
viduals seem  to  form  a  regular  and  quite  natural  class; 
the  English  and  French  troops  found  there  real  estab- 
lishments where  young  boys  of  from  11  to  12  years 
old  are  trained  to  the  service  of  masculine  prostitution. 
They  are  all  dressed  up  as  girls  and  they  are  taught 
all  the  coquetries  of  the  opposite  sex ;  these  precocious 
debauchees  are  incompletely  castrated  at  the  age  of 
from  14  to  15  years,  unhappy  creatures  neither  men 
nor  women.  If  later  on  they  are  received  into  these 
establishments  the  castration  is  completed.     When  not 


102  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

attached  to  regular  establishments,  they  are  to  be  found, 
as  in  ancient  Rome,  at  the  Barbers  {tonsores).  There, 
the  client,  while  being  shaved,  is  surrounded  by  a  crowd 
of  young  boys  of  whom  it  may  be  said  with  Donza, 
one  of  the  commentators  of  Petronius :  Quorum  fre- 
quenti  opera  no?i  in  tondenda  barba,  pilisque  vellendts 
modo  aut  barba  rasitanda,  scd  vero  et  pygiacis  sacris 
sinedice,  nc  nefarie  dicam,  dc  nocte  administrandis 
utebantur. 

The  Chinamen  of  Pekin  are  not  ashamed  to  be  seen 
in  public  with  their  Gitons,  and  in  the  theatres  one 
may  see  the  richest  Chinese  with  their  amasii  standing 
behind  their  chair. 

The  bestial  orgies  to  which  they  abandon  themselves 
can  find  no  analogies  but  in  the  history  of  the  ancient 
Romans.  Concerning  Chinese  debauchery  it  is  inter- 
esting to  quote  Barrow,  who,  in  his   Travels  says: 

"  The  practice  of  a  vice  so  abominable  and  so  con- 
trary to  nature  seems  there  (in  China)  to  be  so  little 
accompanied  by  shame  or  even  restraint,  that  the 
principal  officers  of  State  make  no  difficulty  in  ad- 
mitting their  practice  of  it.  One  of  these  officers  had 
always  near  to  his  person  an  individual  called  the 
pipe-bearer  \  who  was  generally  a  well-built  youth  of 
from  14  to  18  years  of  age,  very  richly  dressed. 
These  youths  were  pointed  out  to  us  by  gestures  and 
signs  which  it  was  not  difficult  to  understand.  The 
two  Muhammadans  I  have  previously  mentioned,  and 
who  lived  in  the  IXth  century  had  also  made  this 
remark.  I  also  find  in  the  relation  of  the  voyage  of 
Huttner,  who  was  a  member  of  the  suite  of  the 
British  embassy  in  Tartary,  speaking  of  Gehol,  he 
says:     'In    one   of  the   palaces  I  found,  among  other 

'  The  Indian  Hookahbadar. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  103 

works  of  art,  two  marble  statues  of  young  men,  ad- 
mirably executed.  Their  hands  and  feet  were  tied  and 
their  attitude  left  no  doubt  that  the  vice  special  to  the 
Greeks  was  also  in  honour  among  the  Chinese.  It  was 
an  old  eunuch  who  laughing  showed  them  to  us.'" 

Immorality  is  still  greater  among  the  Tartar  and 
Mongol  races.  Among  these,  as  with  all  pastoral 
races,  all  kinds  of  debauchery  against  nature  prevail, 
and  their  influence  has  spread  all  over  China.  That 
is  why  this  vice  is  more  prevalent  in  the  Northern 
provinces  and  diminishes  as  one  goes  Southward.  At 
Canton  it  disappears  almost  entirely,  and  is  practised 
only  by  the  Mandarins  who  are  Mandchoos,  or  who, 
if  they  are  Chinese,  have  been  spoiled  by  a  more  or 
less  prolonged  stay  in  the  North.  But  how  long  will 
this  province  resist  the  invasion  of  this  abominable 
plague,  and  the  example  of  the  ruling  officials  will  it 
not  deprave  the  people,  as  it  has  already  done  in 
other  provinces? 

We  have  nearly  reached  the  end  of  our  enterprise. 
We  have  lifted  the  veil  that  obscured  part  of  the  Chinese 
character,  and  we  have  endeavoured  in  a  few  sketches 
to  point  the  immorality  reigning  in  China.  If  these 
sketches  may  appear  too  strong  to  some  of  our  readers, 
let  them  bear  in  mind  that  an  enterprise  of  this  nature 
is  extremely  difficult,  and  that  here  and  there  energetic 
terms  must  quite  necessarily  be  employed  to  show 
things  as  they  are.  No  one  can  complain  if  we  cut 
to  the  quick  into  an  unhealthy  wound,  however  re- 
pugnant the  spectacle  may  be.  We  ask  for  the  same 
indulgence  towards  our  work. 

May  the  above  lines  come  beneath  the  eyes  of  the 
Tartar  chiefs  and  show  to  the  adversaries  of  the  Tat 
phing  rebellion  how  greatly  reform  is  necessary  in  China. 


104  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF 

It  is  only  by  an  immense  immigration  of  foreign 
elements,  and  by  the  opening  out  of  China  to  other 
nations,  that  it  will  be  possible  to  cure  the  horrible 
canker  that  is  eating  up  that  country. 

Occidental  civilization  will  come  to  the  help  of  this 
nation,  so  remarkable  in  other  points  of  view.  But  for 
that  purpose,  the  work  must  not  be  confided  to  people, 
nearly  as  unpolished,  ignorant,  or  fanatical  as  those 
whom  they  pretend  to  correct.  It  requires  energetic 
and  educated  men,  who  know  and  can  apply  the 
remedy  to  the  sore  where  it  exists. 

The  Mandchoo  dynasty  must  be  thrown  down  unmer- 
cifully, and  with  it  will  disappear  the  seeds  of  immorality 
which  it  sows  around  it. 

That  is  to  what  tends  the  revolt  of  the  Ta'i  phing 
however  cruel  or  infamous  the  means  they  employ. 
Gentle  means  are  of  no  avail.  One  must  not  apply 
palliatives  to  the  sores  of  this  great  rotten  body;  the 
knife  must  cut  down  right  to  the  quick,  to  remove 
the  gangrened  portions,  in  order  that  the  rest  may 
grow  again  and  return  to  vigorous  health.  The  Phoenix 
of  the  fable  resuscitates  only  after  having  been  con- 
sumed by  fire;  China  also  will  never  rise  again  until 
all  that  opposes  her  resurrection  has  been  uprooted  and 
destroyed 

The  Shop  of  Ach.,  the  Chinaman.  In  i86— , 
one  of  the  richest  dealers  in  curiosities,  Ach.,  the 
Chinaman,  who  afterwards  became  one  of  the  leading 
Chinese  residents  of  Saigon,  had  a  peculiar  and  wide- 
spread reputation.  Crowds  of  people  went  to  his  house 
to  drink  his  excellent  tea ;  but,  of  course,  his  customers 
never  boasted  of  it,  except  privately  and  between 
themselves,  for  Ach.  was  too  compromising.     In  spite 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  105 

of  the  tolerance  of  manners  in  those  days,  one  had 
but  to  make  a  few  purchases  in  his  shop  to  be  sus- 
pected of  having  enjoyed  his  lewd  favours.  Saigonese 
jokers  defined  this  operation  as  "  digging  in  the  yellow 
clay".  I  give  the  expression  for  what  it  is  worth. 
At  Ach.'s  shop  could  be  found  a  complete  assortment 
of  Chinese  and  Japanese  phalli,  and  the  coloured  albums 
of  the  Chinese  Aretin. 

Twenty-five  years  later,  I  found  Ach.  rich,  and 
much  esteemed  by  his  compatriots,  and  looking  stout, 
strong,  and  well.  His  little  business  had  proved  lucky, 
and  he  had  succeeded  in  life. 

Chinese  Erotic  Literature.  It  is  agreeable  to 
find  that  our  observations  are  amply  borne  out  by  Dr. 
C.  A.  Schlegel  who  writes :  ^ 

In  China,  erotic  books  and  engravings  are  largely 
employed  as  sexual  excitants.  Innumerable  quantities 
of  these  are  to  be  met  with;  nearly  all  of  these  light 
works,  novels,  anecdotes,  etc.,  are  full  of  expressions 
of  so  cynical  a  nature  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to 
choose  among  them. 

The  Roman  poets  in  their  viollcs  libri  still  made 
use  of  metaphors  and  periphrases,  whereas  in  the 
Tschocn  koeng  tse  (erotic  poems)  history  is  brought 
forward  for  the  sole  purpose  of  describing  the  most 
scandalous  affairs  in  the  vilest  language. 

The  governing  authorities  allow  these  books  to  cir- 
culate without  any  restriction.  They  have,  as  well  as 
the  priests,  fulminated  against  these  immoral  books  in 
the  public  papers,  and  their  authors  have  even  some- 
times  been    severely  punished;  the  priests  do  not  fail 

*  "La  Prostitution  en  Chine",  (Rouen,  !{■  80),  an  able  booklet  of  some 
40  pages,  written  originally  in  Dutch. 


106  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

to  preach  that  the  authors  of  these  obscene  books  will 
remain  burning  in  hell  as  long  as  their  works  are 
still  in  existence  on  earth;  and  yet,  notwithstanding, 
every  day  the  most  infamous  plays  are  performed,  at 
which  women  as  well  as  men  assist,  and  printers  con- 
tinue to  pubHsh  novels  daily  more  and  more  filthy. 

It  has  happened  that  Governor-Generals  of  provinces 
have  caused  entire  editions  together  with  their  plates 
of  impression,  after  having  purchased  them,  to  be 
burned ;  but  such  cases  are  very  rare,  for  the  governors 
are  generally  themselves  the  very  first  to  buy  these 
impure  works.  The  erotic  plates  and  engravings  sur- 
pass in  richness,  variety  and  in  infamy,  the  most 
lubric  imaginations,  and  meet  with  more  sale  than  the 
books,  for  all  the  world  can  see,  but  it  is  not  every 
one  that  can  read.  This  trade  must  be  verv  lucrative, 
for  there  exist  in  Canton  studios  where  nothing  but 
these  Tschoen  koen  hoa  are  painted.  In  this  city  it 
is  not  only  men  who  paint  these  pictures,  but  the 
Chinese  themselves  admit  that  in  the  town  of  Soe-- 
Tscheo,  in  the  province  of  Kiang-Han,  young  girls  of 
from  II  to  14  years  of  age  are  employed  at  the 
same  work,  because  they  have  a  lighter  hand,  and 
know  how  to  give  these  pictures  a  more  agreeable 
colouring. 

Lastly,  in  certain  parts  of  China,  they  manufacture 
little  articulated  and  movable  puppets,  in  porcelain  or 
in  ivory,  extremely  obscene,  known  under  the  name 
of  Tschoen  koeng  siang,  and  at  Emoi  under  that 
of  Tschoen  kiang  ang  a. 

In  the  face  of  such  universal  depravity,  the  moral 
tone  of  the  women  must  necessarily  be  at  a  very  low 
level.  But  nevertheless  it  is  not  nearly  so  bad  as 
might  be  imagined,  and  the  Chinese  women  are  most 


ANTHROPOLOGY.'  107 

of  them  far  more  modest  than  were  the  ancient 
Roman  dames.  ^ 

The    Male    House    of  Prostitution   at    Cho-lon. 

There  remains  to  be  mentioned  an  establishment  at 
Cho-lon,  which  was  known  to  very  few  Europeans, 
and  of  which  the  French  police  has  always  (most 
probably)  ignored  the  existence.  This  was  nothing 
else  but  a  house  of  masculine  prostitution. 

It  was  clandestine,  for  the  authorities  would  never 
have    authorized   such    a  den  of  infamy  to  be  opened, 

'  Sir  Rich.  Burton,  in  the  Vol.  VI  of  his  ''  Supplementary  Xights" 
makes  some  sensible  remarks  on  the  subject  of  the  circulation  of  English 
"  erotics",  which  we  here  reproduce : 

"  It  apppears  to  me  that  our  measures,  remedial  and  punitive,  against 

'pornographic   publications'    result  mainly    in    creating    'vested    interest' 

(that  English  abomination)  and  thus  in  fostering  the  work.     The  French 

printer,    who    now   must  give  name  and  address,  stamps  upon  the  cover 

Avis  aux  Libraires  under  Edition  prive'e  and  adds :    Ce  volitme  ne  doit 

pas    etre    mis   en    vente   ou   expose'  dans  les  lieux  publics  {Loi  du   29 

Juillet,   1 881).     He  also  prints  upon  the  back  the  number  of  copies  for 

sale.     We    treat    'pomology'  as  we  handle  prostitution,  imwisely  ignore 

it,  well  knowing  the  while  that  it  is  a  natural  and  universal  demand  of 

civilized    humanity ;  and  whereas  continental  people  regulate  it  and  limit 

its  abuses,  we  pass  it  by,  Pharisee-like,  with  nez  en  Voir.     Our  laws  upon 

the  subject  are  made  only  to  be  broken  and  the  authorities  are  unwilling 

to  prosecute,  because  by  so  doing  they  advertise  what  they  condemn.    Thus 

they    offer    a    premium    to    the    greedy    and    unscrupulous    publisher    and 

immensely    enhance    the    value    of    productions  {"Fanny  Hill"   by  John 

Cleland  for  instance)  which,  if  allowed  free  publication  would  fetch  pence 

instead   of    pounds.     With    due    diffidence,    I    suggest  that  the  police  be 

directed    to    remove    from    booksellers'    windows    and    to    confiscate    ail 

indecent    pictures,    prints   and    photographs ;    I   would  forbid  them  under 

penalty    of    heavy    fines    to    expose  immoral  books  for  sale,  and  I  would 

leave    'cheap   and    nasty'    literature    to    the    good    taste  of  the  publisher 

and  the  public.     Thus  we  should  also  abate  the  scandal  of  providing  the 

secretaries    and    officers    of  the  various  anti-vice  societies  with  libraries  of 

pomological  works  which  supposed  to  be  escheated  or  burned,  find  their 

way  into  the  virtuous  hands  of  those  who  are  supposed  to  destroy  them." 


108  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

and,  for  that  reason,  this  Chinese  temple  of  love  was 
difficult  of  access.  Every  precaution  was  taken  to 
throw  the  French  police  off  the  scent.  The  house,  in 
fact,  was  situated  in  a  suburb  of  Cho-lon.  Nothing 
distinguished  this  illicit  brothel  from  a  honest  house. 
It  was  situated  at  the  end  of  a  court-yard,  and  no  one 
was  admitted,  unless  introduced  by  one  of  the  habitues; 
without  my  friend  B.,  the  opium  contractor,  it  would 
have  been  impossible  for  me  to  enter. 

At  first  sight,  the  house  showed  nothing  abnormal, 
and  looked  merely  like  a  store  of  Chinese  merchandise. 
The  sole  occupant  was  an  old  Chinaman,  the  keeper 
of  the  warehouse,  and  his  worthy  companion.  Ordin- 
arily no  one  was  to  be  found  there.  But  the  clients 
and  pcnsionnaires  knew  the  road  and  the  right  time, 
for  it  was  a  house  for  nocturnal  meetings,  and  only 
filled  towards  midnight.  After  the  Chinese  theatre 
was  over,  the  actors  who  played  the  w^omen's  parts, 
used  to  come  there  to  meet  their  protectors.  ^ 

*  Customs  of  this  nature  are  strangely  alike  in  different  countries.  Dr. 
Jeannel  notes  that  the  principal  characters  in  the  plays  of  Plautus  and 
Terence  are  almost  always  procuresses  and  prostitutes.  That  the  actres- 
ses belonged  to  this  class  is  proved  by  the  following: — "Mox  Hercle ! 
vero  post,  transacta  fabula,  argenttim  si  guts  dedertt,  ut  vulgo  sus- 
picor,    Ultra  ihit  niiptum,  non  manebit  auspices."     (Plaut.,  Casin.,  82.) 

" But  by  Hercules !  after  the  play,   if  anyone  gave  her  any  money, 

I  believe  that  she  would  willingly  get  married,  without  waiting  for  the 
nuptial  ceremonies." 

The  theatres  were  known  as  places  of  debauch  (see  TiT.  Liv.  II,  18); 
also  IsoDOR.  (XVIII,  42),  the  latter  we  quote : — Idem  vero  theatrum, 
idem  et  postibulum,  eo  quod  post  ludos  exaclos,  meretriccs  ibi proter- 
nerentur." 

("Theatre  and  brothel  were  synonyms;  for  after  the  plays  were  over, 
the  prostitutes  there  gave  themselves  up  to  the  public")  The  famous 
Folies  Bergeres  at  Paris  in  our  own  time  has  been  wittily  styled. 
Les  holies  centrales  de  la  Fornication, 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  109 

On  the  far  side  of  the  house,  at  the  end  of  a 
garden  enclosed  with  high  walls,  was  a  fine  pavilion 
richly  decorated,  and  provided  with  handsome  Chinese 
furniture.  A  good  supply  of  apparatus  for  smoking 
opium  was  to  be  found  there,  for,  with  the  Chinese, 
opium  is  the  basis  and  motor  of  all  voluptuous  de- 
bauchery. 

Instead  of  young  girls,  there  were  youths  of  from 
twelve  to  twenty  years,  richly  dressed  in  silk  costumes 
of  tender  hues,  who  waited  on  the  guests,  and  acted 
as  Ganymedes.  Compartments  similar  to  horse  boxes, 
and  containing  a  bed  instead  of  a  manger,  permitted 
the  amorous  couples  to  isolate  themselves.  I  say 
"couples",  but  I  may  remark  that  the  famous  rule  of 
the  Jesuits,  which  forbade  their  pupils  to  ever  be  in 
pairs,  was  applied  in  a  very  singular  manner.  It 
would  be  impossible  to  give  even  a  hint  at  the  scenes 
of  extraordinary  lewdness  which  went  on  in  these 
compartments,  without  entering  into  erotic  details  wor- 
thy of  the  Marquis  de  Sade,  ^  therefore  I  forbear. 

I  cannot,  however,  pass  over  in  silence,  one  eccentric 
form  of  the  Itisus  amoris.  The  Chinese  actors  who 
play  the  women's  parts,  come  in  their  costumes,  and 
assume  the  character  of  a  modest  virgin,  afraid  of 
losing  her  virginity,  a  refinement  of  vice  which  is 
much  appreciated.  In  the  presence  of  a  number  of 
old  men,  not  very  particular,  the  scenes  of  the  first 
night  of  wedded  life  are  represented  without  any 
shame.  But  there  is  nothing  new  under  the  sun,  as 
the   proverb    says.     Petronius    and,  Suetonius  have  re- 

'  No    better    idea    can    be    given  of  the  frightful  state  of  Paris  under 

the  Empire    in    regard    to    the   organised  bands  of  pederasts  which  had 

for  special    object  the  corruption  of  the  Dragons  de  V Impe'ratrice  than 

the  following  systematic  account  given  by  a  police  official :  — 


no  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

counted  the  same  thing  long  ago.  The  Chinese  of 
Cho-lon  do  but  repeat  the  history  of  the  Emperor 
Nero,  and  his  marriage  with  the  eunuch  Sporus. 

EXCURSUS  TO  CHAPTER  VI. 

The  undermentioned  facts  vouched  for  by  Dr.  KrafFt- 
Ebing  will  surprise  many  readers.  The  old  proverb 
concerning  "  people  who  live  in  glass  houses"  here 
acquires  fresh  force.  The  vices,  practised  with  such 
revolting  cynicism  in  Asia,  are  carried  out  with  un- 
speakable audacity  in  the  great  cities  of  Europe. 

Of  the  houses  of  male  prostitution  in  Berlin  : 

"  The  following  notice  from  a  Berlin  (national  ?)  news- 
paper, of  February,  1884,  which  fell  into  my  hands 
by  accident,  seems  suited  to  show  something  of  the 
life  and  customs  of  Urnings:  — 

"  The  Woman-Haters'  Ball.  Almost  every  social 
element, — the  fat,  the  bald-headed,  the  young, — and 
why  not  the  woman-haters?  This  species  of  men,  so 
interesting  psychologically,  and  none  too  edifying, 
had  a  great  ball  to-day.  The  sale  of  tickets  was  very 
rigorous;  they  wish  to  be  very  exclusive.  Their 
rendezvous  was  a  well-known  dance-hall.  We  enter 
the  hall  about  midnight.  The  graceful  dancing  is  to 
the  strains  of  a  fine  orchestra.     Thick  tobacco-smoke, 

"Rapport  d'un  Officcer  de  la  Police  MUNICIPALS  de  PARIS. 
Attribution  des  Moeurs.  Le   16  Juillet,   1864." 

It  is  signed  by  F.  Carlier.  And  the  words  "  Approuvi  les  con- 
clusions,   et    continuer  les  investigations  vis-k-vis  de  toutcs  les  personncs 

sans  distinction." 

(signed)  Nauney. 

Follow  Carlier's  signature. 

This  report  is  very  rare,  very  few  copies  having  been  stiuck  off. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  Ill 

veiling  the  gas-lights,  does  not  allow  the  details  of 
the  moving  mass  to  become  obvious;  only  during  the 
pause  between  the  dances  can  we  obtain  a  closer 
view.  The  masks  are  by  far  in  the  majority;  black 
dress-coats  and  ball-gowns  are  seen  only  now  and 
then. 

"But  what  is  that?  The  lady  in  rose-tarletan,  that 
just  now  passed  us,  has  a  Hghted  cigar  in  the  corner 
of  her  mouth,  and  puffs  likes  a  trooper;  and  she  also 
wears  a  small,  blonde  beard,  lightly  pointed  out.  And 
yet  she  is  talking  with  a  very  decollete  '  angel'  in 
tricots,  who  stands  there,  with  bare  arms  folded  behind 
her,  likewise  smoking.  The  two  voices  are  masculine, 
and  the  conversation  is  likewise  very  masculine ;  it  is 
about  the  'd— tobacco,  that  permits  no  air.'  Two 
men  in  female  attire.  A  conventional  clown  stands 
there,  against  a  pillar,  in  soft  conversation  with  a 
ballet-dancer,  with  his  arm  around  her  faultless  waist. 
She  has  a  blonde  'Titus-head,'  sharp  cut  profile,  and 
apparently  a  voluptuous  form.  The  brilliant  ear-rings, 
the  necklace  with  a  medallion,  the  full,  round  shoul- 
ders do  not  permit  a  doubt  of  her  'genuineness,' 
until,  with  a  sudden  movement,  she  disengages  herself 
from  the  embracing  arm,  and,  yawning,  moves  away, 
saying,  in  a  deep  bass,  'Emile,  you  are  too  tiresome 
to-day!'     The  ballet-dancer  is  also  a  male! 

"  Suspicious  now,  we  look  about  further.  We  almost 
expect  that  here  the  world  is  topsy-turvy;  for  here 
goes,  or,  rather,  trips,  a  man — no,  no  man  at  all  even 
though  he  wears  a  carefully  trimmed  moustache.  The 
well-curled  hair;  the  powdered  and  painted  face  with 
the  blackened  eyebrows ;  the  golden  ear-rings ;  the 
bouquet  of  flowers  reaching  from  the  left  shoulder  to 
the   breast,  ornamenting  the  elegant  black  gown ;  the 


112  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS   OF 

golden  bracelets  on  the  wrists;  the  elegant  fan — all 
these  things  are  anything  but  masculine.  And  how 
he  toys  with  the  fan!  How  he  dances  and  turns,  and 
trips,  and  lisps!  And  yet  kindly  nature  made  this  doll 
a  man.  He  is  a  salesman  in  a  great  millinery  store, 
and  the  ballet-dancer  mentioned  is  his  'colleague'. 

"  At  a  little  corner-table  there  seems  to  be  a  great 
social  circle.  Several  elderly  gentlemen  press  around 
a  group  of  decollete  ladies,  who  sit  over  a  glass  of 
wine  and — in  the  spirit  of  fun — make  jokes  that  are 
none  too  delicate.  Who  are  these  ladies?  'Ladies', 
laughs  my  knowing  friend.  '  Well,  the  one  on  the 
right,  with  the  brown  hair,  and  the  short,  fancy  dress 
is  called  '  Butterrieke '  and  he  is  a  hair-dresser; 
the  second  one — the  blonde,  in  a  singer's  costume, 
with  the  necklace  of  pearls — is  known  here  by  the 
name  of  'Miss  Ella  of  the  tight-rope',  and  he  is  a 
ladies'  tailor;  and  the  third, —  that  is  the  celebrated 
'Lottie'. 

"  But  that  person  cannot  possibly  be  a  man  ?  That 
waist,  that  bust,  those  classic  arms,  the  whole  air  and 
person  are  marked  feminine! 

"  I  am  told  that  '  Lottie '  was  once  a  book-keeper. 
To-day  she,  or  rather,  he,  is  exclusively  'Lottie',  and 
takes  pleasure  in  deceiving  men  about  his  sex  as  long 
as  possible.  '  Lottie '  is  singing  a  song  that  would 
hardly  do  for  a  drawing-room,  in  a  high  voice,  acquired 
by  years  of  practice,  which  many  a  soprano  might 
envy.  '  Lottie'  has  also  '  worked '  as  a  female  comedian. 
Now  the  quondam  book-keeper  has  so  entered  into 
the  female  role  that  he  appears  on  the  street  in  female 
attire  almost  exclusively,  and,  as  the  people  with  whom 
he  lodges  state,  wears  an  embroidered  night-dress. 

"  On  closer  examination  of  the  assembly,  to  my  aston- 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  113 

ishment,  I  discover  acquaintances  on  all  hands:  my 
shoemaker,  whom  I  should  have  taken  for  anything 
but  a  woman-hater — he  is  a  '  troubadour',  with  sword 
and  plume;  and  his  '  Leonora',  in  the  costume  of  a 
bride,  is  accustomed  to  place  my  favourite  brand  of 
cigars  before  me  in  a  certain  cigar-store.  '  Leonora', 
who,  during  an  intermission,  removes  her  gloves,  I 
recognize  with  certainty,  by  her  large  blue  hands. 
Right !  There  is  my  haberdasher,  also ;  he  moves 
about  in  a  questionable  costume  as  Bacchus,  and  is 
the  swain  of  a  repugnantly  bedecked  Diana,  who  works 
as  a  waiter  in  a  beer- restaurant.  The  real  'ladies'  of 
the  ball  cannot  be  described  here.  They  associate  only 
with  one  another,  and  avoid  the  woman-hating  men ; 
and  the  latter  are  exclusive,  and  amuse  themselves, 
absolutely  ignoring  the  charms  of  women." 

Dr.  R.  von  Krafft-Ebing  Psycopathia  Sexualis,  Lon- 
don,  1895,  (pp.  417—418). 

Dutch  Experiences: 

In  Amsterdam  there  exists  perhaps  the  biggest  and 
most  luxurious  brothel  in  the  world.  It  is  known  as 
Dc  Foiitein  (the  Fountain).  This  establishment  occu- 
pies an  entire  building  and  comprises:  restaurant,  ball- 
room, private  saloons,  cafe,  and  at  the  top  of  the  house 
a  billiard-room  where  th2  players  are  chosen  from 
amongst  the  handsomest  sisters  of  this  very  irreligious 
community,  and  are  ABSOLUTELY  NAKED !  Around 
the  room,  seated  at  small  tables,  are  a  number  of  grave 
elderly  gentlemen  of  serious  and  venerable  aspect, 
smoking  long  clay-pipes  or  meerschaums,  and  drinking 
beer  or  grog.  One  of  these  worthies  had  a  peculiar 
knack,    whenever   one   of  these  nude  beauties  stooped 


lU  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

to  make  a  stroke  at  billiards  and  presented  her  buttocks 
in  his  direction,  to  gently  touch  them  with  the  hot 
bowl  of  his  pipe.  This  would  make  her  start  and  the 
old  fellow,  his  paunch  shaking  with  laughter,  would 
draw  a  florin  from  his  pocket  and  hand  it  to  the  angry 
fair.  It  is  probable  that  this  honest  old  burgher  used 
to  distribute  a  goodly  number  of  florins  in  this  manner 
during  the  course  of  the  evening. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Study  of  the  buccal,  vulvar,  and  anal  deformities  caused  by 
male  and  female  prostitution  in  the  Annamite  race. —  The  theories 
of  Tardieu  and  Martineau  confirmed. —  The  vulva  before  puberty, 
and  in  the  adult  woman ;  signs  of  the  loss  of  virginity  in  the 
Annamite  race. — Rarity  of  the  vulvar  infundibuliim  in  girls 
ivho  have  beeJi  deflowered  before  puberty  by  young  boys.  — Peculiar 
signs  of  the  habit  of  mouth  suction.  —  Sodomy  and  pederasty. — 
Signs  of  recent  passive  sodomy.  —  A?ial  blennorrhcea.  — Signs  of 
inveterate  passive  sodomy. — Si^ns  of  active  pederasty  in  the  An- 
namite and  the  Chinese.  —  Signs  of  active  and  passive  pederasty 
in   the  European  in   Cochiri-China. 

Study  of  the  buccal,  vulvar,  and  anal  deform- 
ities. The  notes  from  which  I  have  written  this 
chapter,  date  back  to  my  first  visit,  at  a  time  when 
Tardieu,  and  Martineau,  who  continued  his  work,  had 
not  thoroughly  studied  this  subject  of  medico-legal 
science.  I  have  the  private  satisfaction  of  here  noting, 
that  on  nearly  every  point,  my  observations  confirm 
the  theories  of  those  two  learned  physicians. 

I  am  about  to  note  in  succession  all  the  deformities 
— vulvar,  buccal,  and  anal — caused  in  either  sex,  by 
deflowering,  masturbation,  Sapphism,  or  sodomy  amongst 
the  Annamites. 

The  Vulva  before  the  age  of  Puberty,  and  in 
the   Annamite   Woman.     I  have  already  remarked, 

11.-. 


116  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

in  speaking-  of  the  little  Annamite  girl,  that  the  hymen 
was  frequently  worn  away  after  the  age  of  ten,  and 
I  remarked  that  the  appearance  of  the  organs  of 
generation,  after  that  age,  does  not  differ  greatly  from 
that  of  the  pubescent  women,  of  more  than  sixteen  or 
seventeen  years.  I  will  now  return  to  the  discussion  of 
this  subject,  and  for  the  better  comprehension  of  the 
reader,  I  will  begin  by  quoting  from  Martineau,  the 
essential  differences  w^hich  the  organs  of  generation 
should  show  in  the  little  girl,  and  the  pubescent  woman, 
of  the  French  race : 

In  the  little  girl,  the  direction  of  the  vulva  is  to  be 
noted:  it  is  vertical,  and  the  opening  is  concealed  by 
the  big  and  little  lips.  The  vulva  is  straight  in  front ; 
it  is  half  open  at  the  upper  portion.  On  putting  aside 
the  lips  a  little,  you  see  immediately  the  clitoris,  and 
the  urinary  meatus:  the  lower  part  of  the  vulva  is 
closed. 

In  the  pubescent  girl,  and  especially  in  the  woman 
who  has  often  had  copulation,  the  position  is  quite 
altered.  The  vulva  then  points  downwards  and  back- 
wards. The  separation,  of  the  lips  is  slight  at  the 
upper  part,  but  more  pronounced  at  the  lower,  so  that, 
in  the  pubescent  woman,  the  clitoris  and  the  urinary 
meatus  are  covered,  and  concealed,  by  the  great  lips. 
It  is  important  to  remember  these  positions  when  we 
come  to  study  vulvar  deformities. 

Marks  of  Defloration  in  the  Annamite  Girl, 
before  and  after  Puberty.  From  the  number  of 
young  girls  who  were  submitted  to  me  for  medical 
examination,  I  am  able  to  assert  that  the  vulva  in 
them  is  directly  in  front,  and  that  it  is  also  open  at 
the  lower  end. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  117 

In  the  girl  or  pubescent  woman  who  has  been 
deflowered  at  an  early  age,  the  vulva  continues  to  point 
forward :  the  lower  separation  is  much  more  marked, 
but  the  greater  and  lesser  lips  are  much  less  accentu- 
ated than  in  the  European  woman,  and  rarely  conceal 
the  clitoris  and  the  urinary  meatus.  The  downward 
and  backward  direction  of  the  vulva  is  also  less  marked. 
The  lesser  inclination  of  the  vulva  and  vagina  of  the 
Annamite  woman  decreases,  in  a  marked  degree ;  the 
total  length  of  the  apparatus,  which  is,  no  doubt, 
shorter  than  in  any  other  branch  of  the  human  race 
(except  perhaps  the  Lapps)  and  corresponds  exactly  to 
the  small  penis  of  the  man. 

According  to  Martineau,  the  clitoris  of  the  French- 
woman is  ordinarily  i^  inches  long,  and  more  in  some 
cases.  The  clitoris  in  woman  corresponds  to  the  penis, 
and  should  be  of  a  proportionate  size,  and  therefore 
we  shall  not  be  surprised  to  find  that  in  the  Annamite 
woman  its  average  length  is  barely  three  quarters  of 
an  inch. 

I  have  also  said  that  the  Annamites  prefer  the 
pubes  bare,  and  that  they  compare  the  European 
woman,  whose  pubes  is  generally  more  or  less  fur- 
nished  with   tufts  of  hair,  to  wild  beasts.  ^     The  hair 

'  Our  friend,  Lombroso,  has  endeavoured  to  found  a  series  of  statis- 
tics concerning  the  amount  of  hair  on  the  bodies  of  women  who  live 
by  their  shame.  Of  course  his  rem.irks  apply  only  to  Europeans,  as 
dL-pilation  prevails  almost  exclusively  in  the  East.  It  may  interest  some 
of  oar  readers  to  see  what  Lombroso  says  : — 

I. — The  NccvHS  piloris,  commonly  called  a  "beauty  mark"  {grain 
de  beaittc),  is  a  new  characteristic  hitherto  but  little  studied,  and  which 
must  be  added  to  the  other  characteristics  of  female  degeneration.  It  is 
a  kind  of  indirect  beard  supplement,  which  assimil  ites  the  woman  more 
to  man.  \Vc  found  it  in  14%  of  normal  women,  in  6*/o  of  female 
criminals,  and  in  41%  <'f  prostitutes.     Gurrierl  however  noted  it  in  only 


118  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS   OF 

is  removed  from  the  woman's  pubes  by  rubbing  it 
with  an  ointment  containing  Hme  and  orpiment  (sul- 
phuret  of  arsenic). 

I  have  rarely  (not  to  say  hardly  ever)  remarked, 
in  the  Annamite  woman,  the  symptoms  indicated  by 
Martineau  as  showing  the  signs  of  masturbation,  or 
buccal  Sapphism.  This,  no  doubt,  results  from  the 
ease  with  which  the  girl  or  woman  can  satisfy  her 
natural  desires;  moreover,  the  great  frequency  of  the 
"  flowers "  must  help  to  limit  this  special  form  of  vice. 
I  never  met  but  two  cases,  and  both  these  were  the 
mistresses  of  Europeans. 

The  vulvar  infundibulum  does  not  exist  in  those 
young  girls  who  have  been  touched  by  young  boys. 
It  is  only  found  w^hen  these  girls  have  repeated  copu- 
lation with  a  European.  Although  the  rose  he  gathers 
is  already  withered,  the  disproportion  in  the  size  of  the 
organs  renders  the  first  attacks  difficult,  and  ultimately 
creates  an  infundibulum  which  is  sometimes  deep. 
The  rule,  as  laid  down  by  Martineau,  is  mathematically 
verified,  so  to  speak. 

The  production  of  vulvar  deformities  due  to  deflora- 

8'/o.  Zola  speaks  of  the  beauty  marks  of  Nana  and  of  those  of  the 
lascivious  Countess,  her  worthy  rival. 

2.  Hairs. — Professor  Riccardi  found  in  ai'/o  of  prostitutes  an  ex- 
aggerated pilose  development  on  the  sexual  parts,  and  Gurrieri  also  found 
27°/o,  at  the  same  time  that  he  noticed  iS'/o  where  it  was  totally  want- 
ing; 8°/o  had  a  genuine  ombilico-pubic  tuft.  i6°/o  showed  a  virile  dis- 
tribution of  hair. 

We  have  also  found  with  Ardu  a  virile  distribution  of  hair  on  is'/o 
out  of  234  prostitutes,  whereas  it  was  observed  on  only  from  5  to  6'/o 
of  normal  women  and  on  5°/o   of  female  criminals. 

On  the  contrary  peluria  which  amounts  to  6'/o  among  the  Russian 
prostitutes  and  to  2''/o  among  homicides,  is  absent  on  honest  women  and 
on  thieves.  In  Italy  it  was  noted  in  the  proportion  of  8*/o  on  honest 
women,  36 "/o  on  homicides  and  i3'/o  on  thieves  and  child-killers. 


"ANTHROPOLOGY,  119 

tion  in  copulation,  is  based  on  this  principle;  so  long 
as  there  exists  a  proper  proportion  in  the  size  of  the 
sexual  organs,  the  physiological  act  is  easily  accom- 
plished, and  vulvar  deformities  do  not  supervene. 
But  when  the  size  or  dimensions  of  the  sexual  organs 
differ  in  either  sex;  when  there  is  a  disproportion  in 
the  genital  organs,  copulation  is  accomplished  with 
more  or  less  difficulty,  and  vulvar  deformities  are 
caused.  This  disproportion  may  exist  in  either  sex  ; 
either  on  the  part  of  the  man,  the  penis  being  too 
huge,  or  on  the  part  of  the  woman,  the  vulvo-vaginal 
orifice  being  shrunken,  owing  to  normal  resistance,  by 
the  physiological  tonic  condition  of  the  constrictive 
muscle  of  the  vulva,  or  by  the  undue  resistance  of  the 
hymen. 

Professor  Tardieu  gives  a  typical  description  of  the 
vulvar  deformities  produced  by  defloration.  The  de- 
scription only  applies  to  Annamites  who  have  not 
attained  puberty,  having  habitual  commerce  with  Euro- 
peans. I  quote  part  of  it.  "  In  these  circumstances 
the  greater  lips  are  thickened,  and  separated  at  the 
lower  part,  which  is  the  exact  contrary  of  what  we 
ought  to  find.  The  lesser  lips  are  besides  elongated 
to  such  an  extent  that  they  pass  the  greater,  as  if 
they  had  been  repeatedly  pulled  out.  The  clitoris  is 
red,  projecting,  and  half  erect;  it  is  partly  uncovered. 
That  is  not  all;  the  narrowness  of  the  parts,  and  the 
resistance  of  the  bony  sub-pelvic  arcade,  hindering  the 
complete  introduction  of  the  virile  member,  and  con- 
sequent destruction  of  the  membrane  of  the  hymen, 
fresh  deformities  are  caused.  The  membrane  of  the 
hymen  is  found  to  be  driven  backwards  and  slightly 
upwards ;  at  the  same  time  all  the  parts  which  constitute 
the    vulva    are    also    forced    back.     The    result   is  the 


120  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS    OF 

formation — at  the  expense  of  the  vulvar  canal — of  a 
kind  of  infundibulum,  more  or  less  large,  and  more 
or  less  deep,  capable  of  receiving  the  extremity  of 
the  penis,  and  very  similar  to  that  which  is  formed 
in  the  anus  in  the  case  of  anal  copulation." 

Of  these  characteristics,  I  have  rarely  remarked 
those  relating  to  the  lesser  lips  and  the  clitoris,  but 
the  infundibulum  was  never  wanting. 

Special  Signs  of  the  Habit  of  Suction.  Tardieu 
notes  a  peculiar  conformation  shown  in  the  mouth  of 
certain  persons  addicted  to  the  habit  of  sucking.  "  I 
have  noticed  in  the  most  positive  manner,  in  two 
amongst  them,"  he  says,  "that  the  mouth  was  all 
awry,  the  teeth  very  short,  the  lips  thick,  turned  back, 
deformed,  and  quite  in  keeping  with  the  horrible  vice 
they  practised,"  I  would  add  to  this  that  in  nearly 
all  the  women  and  nays  who  are  addicted  to  such 
practices,  the  lips  generally  appeared  to  me  thick  and 
deformed,  especially  in  the  young  nays.  ^ 

I  have  often  found  eruptions,  ulcerations,  and  the 
scars  of  chancres,  on  the  lips  and  tongue  of  the  un- 
happy victims  of  this  form  of  debauchery.  When  once 
they    are    affected,   they    in    turn   help   to   spread   the 

'  This  abominable  and  perfectly  disgusting  habit  has  come  under  our 
observation  to  a  large  extent  in  Paris,  where  it  is  practised  by  both 
sexes.  Various  names  and  expressions  are  used  by  its  votaries  to  desig- 
nate this  vice: — -faire  minette,  ga?naht(cher,  faire  soixante-nctif ;  the 
latter  term  is  used  on  acount  of  the  peculiar  position  used  in  order  to 
accomplish  the  filthy  act. 

Several  anecdotes  are  current  with  regard  to  this  practice,  but  we 
prefer  not  to  sully  our  pages  by  repeating  them.  I  have  however  not 
been  struck  with  any  special  malformation  in  the  subjects  such  as  Tardieu 
describes.  We  may  mention  that  Martial  has  some  very  powerful  Epi- 
gratns  on  this  aberration. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  121 

syphilitic  virus,  by  a  law  of  reciprocity  which  it  would 
be  very  difficult  to  repress. 

Sodomy  and  Pederasty.  According  to  jMartineau, 
sodomy  is  the  term  generally  employed  to  designate 
unnatural  acts,  without  distinction  of  sex  as  to  the 
persons  between  whom  these  acts  are  effected. 

Pederasty  signifies  unnatural  acts  between  men,  and 
may  be  divided  into  active  and  passive  pederasty. 

The  anal  deformities  produced  by  unnatural  copula- 
tion are  the  same  in  the  woman  as  in  the  boy  and 
the  7iay,  except  some  trifling  differences.  I  will  con- 
fine myself  here  to  studying  them  in  the  nay  and  the 
boy,  where  they  are  found  more  frequently  than  in  the 
woman. 


Signs  of  Recent  Passive  Sodomy.  It  has  been 
already  remarked,  that  the  nay  or  basket  is  a  youth 
of  from  eight  to  fifteen  years.  After  that  age,  he  is 
promoted  to  the  rank  of  boy,  but,  whilst  he  is  a  nay, 
he  has  not  usually  reached  the  age  of  puberty.  As 
may  easily  be  imagined,  these  poor  little  wretches  fall 
into  the  hands  of  "  active "  pederasts,  who  are  not 
remarkable  for  gentleness  and  kindness,  and  who 
brutally  assuage  their  lewd  passions  without  caring 
what  may  be  the  result. 

I  have  often  found,  in  these  unfortunate  nays,  marks 
of  attempts  that  have  been  committed  almost  by  vi- 
olence, the  fact  being  that  a  lad  not  yet  arrived  at 
puberty,  and  frail  and  weak,  is  incapable  of  making 
any  serious  resistance  to  brutal  attempts  at  sodomy  on 
the  part  of  an  adult  European  or  Asiatic. 

In  order  not  to  unduly  extend  this  work,  I  will  not 
give   here  the  results  of  my  medical  observations,  for 


122  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

I  should  only  be  repeating  what  Tardieu  and  Martineau 
have  already  said.  I  will  refer  the  reader  to  their 
works,  and  confine  myself  to  discussing  their  opinions. 

Let  us,  in  the  first  place,  take  that  of  Tardieu.  ^ 

"A  recent  attempt  leaves  such  well-marked  signs 
that  it  is  impossible  to  mistake  them.  The  signs  of 
recent  attempt  are  more  or  less  evident  according  to 
the  degree  of  violence  employed,  the  size  of  the  parts, 
the  youth  of  the  victim,  and  the  absence  of  previous 
vicious  habits.  They  vary,  according  to  circumstances, 
from  redness,  roughness,  painful  heat  of  the  anus,  and 
difficulty  in  walking,  to  the  fissures,  called  rhagades, 
deep  rents,  extravasation  of  blood,  and  inflammation 
of  the  mucous  membrane,  and  the  underlying  cellular 
tissue.  This  inflammation  may  be  more  or  less  ex- 
tensive, and  more  or  less  prolonged;  but  if  the  exam- 
ination does  not  take  place  till  some  days  after  the 
attempt,  you  will  find  usually,  only  itching,  and  a 
discoloration  of  the  anus,  due  to  the  modifications, 
caused  by  the  discharge  of  blood." 

The  symptoms  mentioned  by  Martineau  are  more 
explicit.  He  remarks — which  Tardieu  does  not — that 
there  may  result  "abscesses  or  fistulas".  Sometimes 
a  bloody  and  purulent  serum  is  spread  over  the  anal 
region,  which  is  very  painful.  The  pain  is  either 
continuous,  or  merely  passing;  and  comes  on  more 
especially  during  defecation ;  the  woman  (or  man)  then 
experiences  a  smarting  pain,  which  is  sometimes  very 
violent.  At  other  times,  the  pain  comes  on  after 
defecation,  and  lasts  several  hours. 

On    examination  of  the  region,  the  following  marks 

*  Etude  Medico-Legale  siir  les  Attentats  aiex  Mceiirs  par  Ambroise 
Tardieu,  professcur  de  Medecine  16gale  a  la  Facult6  de  M^decine  de 
Paris.     (Sept.  edit.,  Paris,    1878.) 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  123 

will  be  found.  On  touching  the  anus,  it  will  be 
noticed  that  the  orifice  is  shghtly  dilated.  The  anus 
is  also  driven  "upwards.  The  sphincter,  not  having  yet 
lost  its  power,  resists,  but  is  also  nevertheless  driven 
upwards,  with  the  result  that  a  slight  depression  of 
the  anal  region  is  formed,  the  beginning  of  an  infun- 
dibulum  bearing  towards  the  anus 

Martineau's  reasoning  is  complete.  But  I  would 
remark  that,  in  the  majority  of  recent  attempts,  I  have 
not  found  the  infundibulum  clearly  defined ;  —  not  because 
there  was  not  a  great  disproportion  between  the  anus 
of  the  child  and  the  penis  of  the  adult,  but  because 
the  anal  sphincter  (and  the  vulvar  also)  possesses  less 
tonicity  than  in  the  European.  Consequently,  the 
sphincter  is  more  easily  dilated. 

I  have  always  found,  in  the  medical  examination, 
that  the  anus  was  dilated,  and  that  the  finger,  when 
introduced,  did  not  meet  with  that  constriction  which 
is  found  in  the  anus  of  a  person  who  has  not  been 
sodomised. 

In  the  woman,  the  anal  infundibulum  is  more  frequent 
and  more  pronounced  than  in  the  nay,  and  for  a  good 
reason.  In  the  first  place  the  muscles  of  the  buttocks 
are  more  developed  than  in  the  nay,  and  the  sphincter 
has  also  more  tonicity.  The  nay  is  generally  very 
young  when  he  begins  the  practice,  whereas  the  woman 
is  old  when  she  takes  to  sodomy,  which  she  does 
rather  from  economic  motives,  on  account  of  the 
money  it  brings,  than  from  natural  taste.  The  result 
in  her  case  is  that,  the  sphincter  having  greater  tonic- 
ity, anal  copulation  is  more  difficult,  which  causes  the 
production  of  an  infundibulum. 

In  the  boy,  who  has  usually  been  a  pederast  for  some 
years,  only  the  signs  of  inveterate  sodomy  are  found. 


124  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

All  the  sodomites,  both  men  and  women,  lubricate 
the  anus,  in  order  to  make  copulation  easier,  and  use, 
for  this  purpose,  some  fatty  substance,  mixed  with  the 
thickened  juice  of  a  kind  of  mallow,  which  is  boiled 
in  a  small  quantity  of  water.  This  mallow  possesses 
emollient  properties. 

Anal  Blennorrhoea.  Cases  of  anal  blennorrhcea, 
which  are  very  rare  in  Europe, — for  Tardieu  and 
Martineau  only  met  with  one  case  each, — are  much 
less  rare  in  Cochin-China.  They  occur  when  the  nay 
is  the  victim  of  a  boy,  who  has  contracted  the  disease 
from  a  woman,  which  is  the  case  with  the  majority  of 
adults.  I  met  with  one  case,  however,  in  a  young 
German,  who  was  employed  in  a  large  house  of  busi- 
ness, and  who  had  probably  been  infected  by  a  boy, 
but  he  would  never  confess  how  he  caught  it,  and 
related  all  sorts  of  improbable  lies. 

I  cured  him  by  employing  cubebs  internally,  and 
injecting,  by  the  rectum,  his  own  urine  collected  in  a 
glass,  and  used  while  tepid,  with  a  syringe. 

Signs  of  Inveterate  Passive  Sodomy.  Accord- 
ing to  Tardieu  these  are  the  signs  which  it  should 
present :  "  The  characteristic  signs  of  passive  pederasty, 
which  we  will  recapitulate  in  order,  are,  — excessive 
development  of  the  buttocks,  infundibular  deformity 
of  the  anus,  relaxation  of  the  sphincter,  the  effacement 
of  the  folds  or  wrinkles,  ridges  and  excrescences  round 
the  anus,  extreme  dilation  of  the  anal  orifice,  inability 
to  restrain  the  faeces,  ulcerations,  rhagadcs,  piles, 
fistulas,  rectal  blennorrhoea,  syphilis,  and  foreign  bodies 
introduced  into  the  anus.  The  mere  enumeration  of 
these  different  signs  can  give  no  idea  of  their  import- 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  12S 

ance :  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  identify  each  separ- 
ately, in  all  its  essential  peculiarities.  " 

Tardieu's  summary  having  been  thoroughly  discussed 
by  Martineau,  it  would  be  better  to  refer  the  reader 
to  his  book,  and  to  note  here  the  differences,  which  I 
think  I  have  observed,  as  to  the  relative  importance 
of  these  symptoms. 

In  the  first  place,  I  will  put  aside  the  sign  of  exces- 
sive development  of  the  buttocks,  which  is  without  im- 
portance in  the  Annamite  race,  and  come  at  once  to 
that  of  the  anal  infundibulum. 

The  Anal  Infundibulum.  This  deformity  has  always 
struck  observers,  but  some  of  them  have  denied  its 
importance,  and  others  have  exaggerated  it.  This 
difference  of  opinion  is  perhaps  due  to  the  fact  that, 
in  certain  cases,  this  deformity  exists,  while  in  others 
it  is  absent.  I  have  given  the  reasons  for  its  existence, 
or  its  absence,  by  proving  that  the  anal  infundibulum 
resulted  either  from  the  resistance  ofthe  sphincter  muscle, 
or  from  the  disproportion  in  the  size  of  the  organs.  I 
repeat,  that  in  all  cases  in  which  these  conditions  exist, 
or  have  existed,  you  are  certain  to  remark  this  deform- 
ity, both  in  the  man,  and  in  the  woman. 

The  infundibular  deformity  of  the  anus  is,  I  repeat, 
real,  only  you  must  know  how  to  look  for  it,  and  how 
to  understand  its  pathogeny.  As  regards  this,  I  cannot 
do  better  than  quote  the  very  exact  description  given 
by  Tardieu. 

"The  infundibular  deformity  of  the  anus,"  says  that 
eminent  professor,  "  results,  on  the  one  hand,  from  the 
gradual  forcing  back  of  the  parts  which  are  situated 
in  front  of  the  anus,  and  on  the  other  hand,  from  the 
resistance    shown    by  the  higher  end  of  the  sphincter 


126  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

to  the  complete  admission  of  the  member  into  the  rectum. 
The  sphincter,  in  fact,  forms  above  the  anus  a  sort  of 
contracted  muscular  canal,  the  depth  of  which  is  some- 
times an  inch  and  a  quarter  to  an  inch  and  a  half,  so 
that  the  lower  part  of  the  ring  may  give  way,  and 
allow  itself  to  be  pushed  towards  the  upper,  which 
resists  still  more,  and  remains  at  the  bottom  in  a  sort 
of  funnel,  the  widest  portion  of  which  is  circumscribed 
by  the  sides  of  the  buttocks,  and  the  narrow  part  of 
which  extends  through  the  anal  orifice  to  the  compressed 
sphincter,  which  is  reduced  to  a  mere  ring,  which 
closes,  more  or  less  completely,  the  entrance  to  the 
intestines. 

If  I  have  succeeded  in  making  my  meaning  plain, 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  infundibulum  will  be  more  or 
less  wide,  and  more  or  less  deep,  according  to  the 
state  of  fatness,  or  leanness,  of  the  person,  and  the 
more  or  less  pronounced  projection  of  the  buttocks." 

In  all  the  Annamite  prostitutes  addicted  to  practices 
of  sodomy,  I  met  with  the  infundibulum  so  well  described 
by  Tardieu,  and  of  the  shape  mentioned  above.  I 
attribute  this  to  the  advanced  age  of  these  women  when 
they  begin  anal  copulation.  But,  on  the  contrary,  I 
have  not  often  met  with  it  in  the  hoy  of  from  sixteen 
to  twenty,  or  twenty-five  years  of  age,  who  is  a  hard- 
ened pederast,  and  began  the  practice  at  an  early  age. 
The  regular  infundibulum  had  disappeared,  to  give 
place  to  another  form  quite  as  characteristic  as  the 
first,  and  which  has  not  been  noticed  by  Tardieu. 

We  owe  the  clear  description  of  this  form  to  Mar- 
tineau,  and  I  cannot  do  better  than  reproduce  it. 
"  When  the  anus  is  compressed  upwards,  if  you  do 
not  find  an  infundibulum  such  as  I  have  described, 
do  not  imagine   that  it  does  not  exist.     In  many  cases, 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  127 

in  fact,  by  an  attentive  examination,  and  by  feeling 
the  anus,  you  will  find  an  infundibulum  formed,  not  at 
the  expense  of  the  buttocks,  but  of  the  anus  and  the 
softened  sphincter,  and  flattened  in  such  a  manner, 
that  the  finger,  directed  from  the  back  to  the  front, 
and  from  the  bottom  to  the  top,  will  meet  with  a 
small  annular  depression  in  the  form  of  a  cupola,  in 
which  the  extremity  of  the  exploring  finger  can  lodge. 

"  I  call  your  earnest  attention  to  this  infundibulum, 
formed  at  the  expense  of  the  anus,  and  partly  of  that 
of  the  sphincter,  because  other  authors  appear  to  me 
to  have  ignored  its  existence."  ^ 

It  is  generally  in  this  special  form  that  I  have 
encountered  the  infundibulum  in  the  nay  of  twelve  or 
thirteen  years  of  age,  and  especially  in  the  boy. 

Relaxation  of  the  Sphincter.— Effacement  of 
the  Radiating  Folds.  I  again  quote  from  Martineau. 
"  Besides  this  infundibular  deformity,  the  sphincter  is 
relaxed,  and  the  radiating  folds  are  effaced.  These 
two  signs  are  very  important.  In  fact,  they  are  never 
wanting  in  the  inveterate  sodomite.  Tardieu,  very 
rightly,  like  Zachias  Casper,  attributes  a  great  diag- 
nostic value  to  the  existence  of  these  two  signs, 
which,  he  says,  are  met  with  even  when  the  infundib- 
ulum is  missing.  For  my  own  part,  I  have  always 
found  this  relaxation  of  the  sphincter,  and  the  efface- 
ment of  the  radiating  folds  or  wrinkles.  It  may  easily 
be  understood,  in  fact,  that  these  signs  are  invariable 
in  the  inveterate  sodomite.  It  is  not  necessary  that 
anal  copulation  should  be  accomplished  easily,  or  with 
difficulty ;    to  produce  these  signs  it  suffices  if  the  act 

'  Martineau,  Legons  stir   les  Deformations  vulvaires  et  anales  (Paris, 
1883). 


128  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

of  sodomy  is  often  repeated.  The  friction,  the  passage 
of  the  member,  suffices  to  dilate  the  anus,  and  to 
produce  the  relaxation  of  the  sphincter,  and  the  efFace- 
ment  of  the  radiating  folds.  The  tonicity  of  the 
constrictor  muscle  of  the  anus  is  lost  little  by  little, 
the  sphincter  is  insensibly  relaxed,  the  folds  and 
wrinkles  are  smoothed  out,  and  anal  copulation  is 
then  effected  more  easily. 

"  Along  with  these  two  morbid  phenomena,  if  the 
anal  orifice  is  dilated  with  the  fingers,  it  will  be  found 
that  the  rectal  mucous  membrane  forms  creases,  and 
sometimes  a  bright  red,  thick  swelling.  As  to  carun- 
cula  and  excrescences,  lesions  which  the  Latin  satirists 
called  cresta,  marisccp,  I  have  never  met  with  them. 

"  Simultaneously  with  these  deformities  and  anal  lesions, 
will  be  noticed  the  weakening  of  the  sphincter,  the 
compression  of  the  anus  upwards,  and  the  dilation  of 
the  anal  orifice  to  such  an  extent  that,  with  some 
patients,  the  faeces,  and  the  intestinal  gases,  escape 
involuntarily. 

"  Owing  to  this  dilation  of  the  anus,  you  can  easily 
introduce  into  the  rectum,  one,  two,  or  even  three, 
fingers.  On  separating  the  buttocks,  you  will  find  a 
hole,  more  or  less  gaping,  in  which  you  will  be  able 
to  perceive  certain  lesions  with  which  the  mucous 
membrane  is  affected,  such  as  ulcerations,  piles,  and 
fistula,  etc.,  etc.  These  lesions,  which  are  considered 
by  Dr.  Venot  (of  Bordeaux)  as  a  consequence  of  habit- 
ual sodomy,  are,  in  my  opinion,  nothing  of  the  kind. 
They  may  occur  without  inveterate  sodomy.  They 
may  exist  with  it,  but  they  are  not  a  consequence 
of  it." 

The  marks  of  inveterate  sodomy  could  not  be  described 
more    faithfully   than    they    have    been   by  Martineau, 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  129 

but  I  have  especially  remarked  in  the  elder  boys,  a 
considerable  dilation  of  the  anus,  to  such  an  extent 
indeed,  that  I  introduced  in  some  of  them  the  thumb 
and  the  two  first  fingers,  as  far  as  the  second  joint, 
and  that  easily  and  without  causing  pain,  by  taking 
a  little  care.  When  relaxed  to  such  an  extent,  the 
sphincter  was  incapable  of  keeping  in  the  faecal  mat- 
ter. Having  once  cured  one  of  these  unfortunate 
wretches,  of  excessive  relaxation  of  the  anus,  by  em- 
ploying an  astringent  of  myrrh  and  acetate  of  lead, 
mixed  with  simple  ointment,  I  created  for  myself 
(without  seeking  it)  an  extensive  practice,  for  the  boy, 
when  nearly  cured,  made  me  a  reputation  I  was  far 
from  desiring,  amongst  comrades  of  the  same  kidney. 
They  came  from  all  parts,  to  my  surgery,  which 
allowed  me,  at  the  cost  of  a  few  pots  of  ointment,  to 
closely  study  the  deformities  mentioned  above,  and  to 
gather  some  information  as  to  the  methods  used  by 
these  perverted  wretches. 

Signs  of  Active  Pederasty  in  the  Annamite 
and  the  Chinaman.  Tardieu  is  the  only  author  who 
has  treated  of  this  subject  in  detail,  and  he  has  done 
so  in  a  remarkably  complete  manner.  I  will  sum  up 
the  conclusions  at  which  he  has  arrived. 

"  In  the  active  pederast,  the  virile  member  is  very 
slender,  or  very  huge ;  slenderness  is  the  very  general 
rule,  huge  size  the  very  rare  exception,  but,  in  either 
case,  the  dimensions  are  excessive,  one  way  or  the 
other.  In  the  slim  penis  will  be  noticed  a  considerable 
reduction  from  the  base  to  the  extremity,  which  is 
very  thin,  like  the  finger  of  a  glove,  and  resembles 
the  canufn  more ;  this  form  is  the  most  general. 

"  In  the  very  large  penis,  it  is  not  the  whole  organ 


130  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS    OF 

which  undergoes  a  gradual  thinning  from  the  root  to 
the  extremity,  but  the  gland,  which  being  strangled 
at  its  base,  is  sometimes  inordinately  elongated,  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  give  one  the  idea  of  the  muzzle 
of  certain  animals.  Moreover  the  member,  throughout 
its  whole  length,  is  twisted  in  such  a  manner  that  the 
urinary  meatus,  instead  of  being  straight  up  and  down, 
is  turned  obliquely  to  the  right  or  left.  This  twisting 
and  change  in  the  direction  of  the  organ  are  some- 
times carried  to  excess,  and  appear  the  more  marked 
because  the  dimensions  are  so  considerable,  so  that  I 
once  saw  the  dorsal  side  of  the  penis  turned  completely 
to  the  left,  and  the  meatus  transversal.  " 

I  will  content  myself  with  making  the  following 
remarks.  I  have  never  noticed  in  an  Annamite  the 
signs  of  passive  pederasty,  without  making  an  examina- 
tion of  the  genital  organs,  and  without  at  once  asking 
if  he  practised  active  pederasty,  or  masturbation.  The 
reply  generally  confirmed  the  medical  diagnosis  result- 
ing from  the  examination. 

I  have  often  found,  in  the  young  7iays,  signs  of 
masturbation,  characterized  by  a  gland  very  easily 
skinned,  the  mucous  surface  red,  and  the  member 
becoming  erect  at  the  least  touch.  In  the  hoy  on  the 
contrary  masturbation  was  the  exception,  and,  as  a 
rule,  signs  of  active  pederasty — either  by  the  boys 
amongst  themselves,  or  perhaps  with  some  European 
— were  found. 

But  though  the  boy,  for  a  sum  of  money  and  the 
promise  of  secrecy,  would  reveal  to  me  the  vicious 
habits  he  had  practised  with  his  master,  it  may  be 
imagined  that,  even  the  most  depraved  European 
would  not  willingly  confess  his  abject  vices.  Messrs. 
Y.    and   Z.    would  smile  affably  when  spoken  to  con- 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  131 

cerning  their  taste  for  good  looking  hoys,  or  the 
Chinese  of  Ach.'s  shop,  but  the  insinuation  that  they 
followed  the  Latin  adage,  par  pari  refertur,  and  that 
between  them  and  the  boys  and  Chinese,  there  existed 
an  exchange  of  fav^ours,  would  not  have  been  well 
received. 

From  the  Asiatics  I  examined,  I  deduced  the  fol- 
lowing observations.  The  genital  organ  of  the  male 
Annamite,  being,  as  we  have  seen,  remarkable  for  its 
slenderness,  I  generally  found  in  the  boy  who  was  an 
active  pederast,  the  member  conical,  and  similar  to 
that  of  a  dog,  as  has  been  remarked  by  Tardieu.  In 
some  only — those  more  especially  addicted  to  mastur- 
bation— the  gland  was  in  the  shape  of  a  club. 

The  genital  organ  of  the  Chinaman,  being  more 
developed,  and  approaching  nearer  to  the  size  of  that 
of  the  European,  did  not  so  often  assume  this  shape, 
but  rather  showed,  on  the  contrary,  the  lateral  twist  of 
the  penis,  and  the  elongation  of  the  gland  from  the  crown. 

Signs  of  Active  and  Passive  Pederasty  in  the 
European.  The  signs  of  active  sodomy  in  the  Euro- 
peans, who  consented  to  allow  me  to  examine  them, 
were  usually  those  which  Tardieu  describes  as  excep- 
tional. It  is  true,  let  me  hasten  to  say,  that  the  number 
of  Europeans  I  examined  was  not  considerable,  and  I 
cannot,  therefore,  deduce  any  general  rule.  In  one  of 
them,  a  M.  B***,  a  man  whose  lasciviousness  and 
misconduct  were  notorious,  I  found  the  member  very 
much  developed,  and  capable  of  satisfying  the  most 
exacting  woman.  It  was  not  without  some  astonish- 
ment that  I  saw  a  man,  provided  with  a  genital 
apparatus  of  this  size,  in  the  habit  of  assuaging  his 
lust     upon     unfortunate    children    not    yet    arrived    at 


132  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

puberty.  I  remarked  the  same  thing  among  the  Arab 
sodomites  of  Guiana.  I  also  remarked  in  the  European 
active  sodomite,  the  cork-screw  form— often  very  pro- 
nounced— and  the  strangulation  of  the  gland  by  the 
pressure  of  the  anal  sphincter. 

Signs  of  Passive  Sodomy.  For  reasons  which 
will  be  well  understood,  I  was  only  able  to  note  these 
in  two  Europeans.  The  first,  was  the  young  German 
I  have  mentioned  as  affected  wnth  anal  blennorrhcea, 
and  whom  I  cured  by  injections  of  a  special  kind.  He 
promised  to  show  me  the  state  of  his  rectum  after  he 
was  cured,  but  he  took  care  to  never  come  back,  in 
order  not  to  have  to  confess  the  more  than  probable 
cause  of  the  disease,  which  was  evidently  occasioned 
by  anal  copulation  with  some  affected  person. 

The  second  was  a  young  lad  of  seventeen,  the  son 
of  a  clerk  in  one  of  the  Government  offices.  I  made 
the  voyage  out  in  company  with  his  father,  and  rumours 
were  current  on  board  the  ship,  about  the  morality  of 
this  young  man.  He  came  to  me,  one  day,  with  a 
stinking  chancre,  which  occupied  the  front  part  of  the 
anus.  This  latter  was  much  dilated,  and  admitted  two 
fingers.  On  opening  it,  I  found  the  anal  mucous  sur- 
face relaxed,  red,  and  ulcerated.  The  radiating  folds 
had  partly  disappeared,  and  the  sphincter  had  sensibly 
lost  its  tonicity.  This  vicious  youth  pretended  that  he 
had  acquired  the  disease  from  the  mouth  of  a  Congai, 
and  I  could  not  make  him  comfess  the  truth.  I  thought, 
on  the  contrary,  after  making  a  medical  examination 
of  his  anus,  that  he  acted  (perhaps  many  times)  as  the 
"patient",  and  had  caught  his  disease  from  some 
active  sodomite  infected  with  syphilis. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  European  Colony  thirty  years  ago. — The  European  ivoman 
very  rare. — Moral  causes  of  the  relative  frequency  of  sodomy  and 
pederasty  in  the  early  days  of  the  occupation.  —  Saigon  in  the 
present  day,  thirty  years  after  the  conquest. — Increase  of  the  femi- 
nine element  in  Cochin- China. —  The  life  of  the  European  in  the 
present  day.  —  Evening  amusements.  — The  European  prostitute. — 
Ittcreased  morality  of  the  Europeans.  —  The  diminution  in  the 
masculine  and  feminine  prostitution  of  the  natives  is  only  in  ap- 
pearance.—Present  manners. —  The  boy  and  the  native  collegian. 

The  European  Colony..  Thirty  years  ago  the  Euro- 
pean colony  was  not  very  numerous,  and,  except  for 
some  English  and  Germans,  and  a  very  few  French 
merchants,  was  mainly  composed  of  officers  of  the  Navy 
and  other  corps  connected  with  it,  and  a  small  minor- 
ity of  civil  service  officials. 

There  were  not  in  all  more  than  four  of  five  hun- 
dred Europeans,  besides  the  Expeditionary  Corps. 
Daily  existence  was  desperately  monotonous,  which, 
added  to  the  unhealthiness  of  the  climate  made  a  sojourn 
in  the  place  very  unpleasant.  In  an  atmosphere  which 
is  hot,  damp,  and  frequently  saturated  with  electricity, 
the  climate  very  quickly  enervates  and  weakens  the 
physical  strength,  and  this  weakness  of  the  body  re-acts 
in  its  turn  on  the  moral  character. 

Few  amusements  brightened  the  life  of  the  European 
bachelor,  for,  at  first,  few  people  brought  their  families 

133 


134  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF 

to  the  Colony.  Consequently,  there  were  none  of  those 
social  meetings  which  render  civilized  life  nearly  sup- 
portable. I  cannot  call  to  mind  one  agreeable  reunion, 
for  though  everyone  was  obliged  to  appear  now  and 
then  at  the  official  soirees  of  the  Governor,  these  were 
nothing  short  of  torture  to  the  officer,  or  official,  who 
was  forced  to  put  on  for  the  occasion,  his  regimentals, 
and  epaulettes,  or  the  regulation  black  suit.  At  the 
first  official  ball  at  which  I  assisted,  i86 — ,  the  female 
element  was  represented  by  four  ladies,  who  danced 
a  quadrille,  with  two  hundred  officers,  and  officials, 
standing  round  them.  There  were  no  evening  amuse- 
ments at  Saigon,  but  for  those  who  liked  the  Club, 
and  baccarat  or  ecarte.  Lovers  of  music  were  reduced 
to  visiting  the  Chinese  theatre,  the  only  one  in  existence 
at  the  time,  for  the  French  theatre  did  not  open  till 
twenty  years  after  the  conquest,  and  it  must  be  con- 
fessed that  the  Chinese  theatre  was  not  very  amusing. 
Confirmed  gamblers  had  recourse  to  haquan.  The 
admirers  of  the  fair  sex  were  the  worst  off,  the  female 
element  was  conspicuous  by  its  absence.  There  were 
two  or  three  married  ladies,  who  were  not  very  cir- 
cumspect, and  were  fi^eely  talked  about,  but  as  to  ladies 
of  the  demi-monde,  or  even  of  the  "  demi-demi-monde", 
there  were  absolutely  none. 

The    two   filrst  European   Prostitutes.     If  my 

memory  serves  me  faithfully,  the  two  first  European 
prostitutes  came  to  Saigon  in  1866,  or  1867.  They 
were  two  Moldo-Wallachians,  nearly  forty  years  of 
age,  who  had  been  in  every  brothel  between  Alexan- 
dria and  Saigon.  Installed  as  dames  de  comptoir  in 
a  common  beer-house,  they  caused  almost  a  riot  amongst 
the  male  population ;  and  the  night  of  their  arrival  all 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  135 

the  bachelors  of  Saigon  were  collected  in  the  establish- 
ment, though  usually  you  did  not  find  more  than  four 
Europeans  there.  Some  funny  person  had  the  absurd 
idea  of  putting  the  ladies  up  in  a  raffle, — each  at  a 
hundred  tickets  at  one  piaster.  In  an  hour  all  the 
tickets  were  sold,  and  the  lottery  drawn.  I  do  not 
know  whether  the  happy  winners  were  enchanted  with 
their  good  luck. 

Except  the  cafe  and  the  Club — or,  indeed,  baquan, 
and  the  Chinese  theatre — what  amusements  were  there 
in  the  evening,  for  Europeans  who  did  not  want  to 
drink,  or  gamble,  or  even  listen  to  the  senseless  music 
of  the  Chinese?  None  whatever,  but  opium  smoking 
and  native  prostitution.  Unless  a  man  possessed  an 
exceptionally  strong  will,  it  was  difficult  to  avoid 
gliding  down  the  slippery  paths  of  vice,  in  a  country 
where  vice  was  to  be  found  everywhere.  In  the  day- 
time, the  European  was  attacked  in  his  house  by  the 
"  daylight  whores  ",  and  in  the  evening,  if  he  had  the 
strength  to  take  a  stroll,  in  order  that  he  might  sleep 
the  better,  quite  a  crowd  of  lewd  boys  came  round 
him,  to  impudently  offer  their  unclean  favours.  ^ 

It  was  not  astonishing  that  persons  of  weak  char- 
acter, who  did  not  know  how  to  preserve  their  moral 
dignity,  fell  into  shameful  vices.  I  cannot  but  repeat, 
that  the  European  did  not  import  the  vice  of  Sodom 
into  Cochin-China.  The  vice  was  a  direct  result  of 
Chinese  civilization,  and  became  part  of  the  manners 
of  the  Annamite  people  long  before  the  conquest  by  the 

'  Vices  such  as  these  are  not  confined  alone  to  Asiatic  cities.  We 
recall  an  incident  that  occurred  to  ourselves  in  1894  in  Seville.  While 
traversing  a  short  street  in  the  centre  of  the  city  we  were  accosted  by 
a  woman,  who  said  "Si  el  seizor  no  quiere  mvigeres  hay  niflos  muy  pe- 
queflos  y  el  seHor  pucde  tomarlos  por  el  culo."  The  utter  depravity  of 
other  cities  like  BerUn,  Marseilles  and  Naples  is  notorious. 


136  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF 

French.  It  was  the  vanquished  people  who  corrupted 
the  European,  and  he  was  aided  in  that  by  the  almost 
complete  want  of  the  European  feminine  element,  at 
the  beginning  of  the  colonization. 

Moral  Causes  ofthe  Sodomy  of  the  Europeans.  ^ 

The  real  causes  of  the  propagation  of  the  vice  of 
sodomy,  in  the  European  colony,  are  these.  In  the 
first  place,  the  almost  complete  absence  of  the  white 
woman.  Obliged  to  take  to  the  disgusting  Congai, 
whose  black  mouth,  with  its  red  spittle,  was  enough 
to  damp  the  warmest  genital  ardour,  some  preferred 
the  mouth  sucking  used  by  these  women ;  others,  more 
depraved,  took  the  road  to  Sodom.  Others  again, 
more  depraved  still  (or  perhaps  from  hereditary  char- 
acter) addressed  themselves  to  the  nays  and  boys,  who 
offered  themselves  in  shoals.  This  last  category  was 
much  the  smallest,  I  hasten  to  acknowledge. 

All  gave,  as  the  reason  for  their  vicious  habits,  the 
absolute  want  of  security,  and  the  great  danger  of 
catching  syphilis  from  the  Congai.  A  great  change 
has  taken  place  since  then,  and  before  describing  the 
life  which  the  European  now  leads  in  Cochin-China, 
let  us  cast  a  rapid  glance  at  Saigon  in  the  present  day. 

Saigon  in  the  Present  Day,  more  than  thirty 
Years  after  the  Conquest.  Nearly  a  quarter  of  a 
century  after  my  first  stay  in  the  Colony,  I  paid  it  a 
second  visit,  on  my  return  from  Tonquin.  I  can  thus 
bear   witness   to  the  progress  effected  in  thirty  years. 

Important  changes  in  the  appearance  of  Saigon  had 
taken  place,  to  such  a  degree,  indeed,  that  of  all  the 
old  houses  and  huts  existing  at  my  departure,  I  recog- 
nized one  only,  that  of  the  great  merchant,  Wang-tai, 

'  See  the  Excursus  at  the  end  of  this  chapter. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  137 

transformed  into  the  office  of  the  "  Contributions  indi- 
rectes."  A  magnificent  Government  House,  a  superb 
Cathedral,  a  brand  new  Post  and  Telegraph  Office, 
Treasury,  fine  Law  Courts,  Government  Offices,  the  resi- 
dence of  the  Commandant,  enormous  barracks  provided 
with  all  necessary  comforts,  all  had  sprung  out  of  the 
ground  as  though  by  enchantment,  with  the  help  of 
the  Chinese  labourer.  The  town  had  doubled  in  size, 
and  instead  of  small  low  narrow  houses  with  tile  roofs 
and  no  ceilings,  where  the  officers  and  officials  for- 
merly lodged,  there  are  now  fine  houses  of  several 
storeys,  with  verandas  all  round. 

Instead  of  a  few  rare  Malabar  cabmen,  never  to  be 
found  on  the  days  when  they  were  most  needed,  there 
were  hundreds  and  hundreds  of  carriages  of  all  sorts, 
from  the  regular  old  cab,  formerly  driven  by  a  Ma- 
labar (whence  its  name)  to  the  calash  with  two  horses, 
or  the  zidore,  an  open  carriage  with  one  horse.  These 
could  be  hired  for  fourpence  a  journey,  or  eightpence 
an  hour,  with  no  pour  bo  ire  for  the  driver, — an  improve- 
ment worth  noting.  For  half  a  piaster  (is.  8d.),  you 
could  make  a  tour  of  inspection  at  five  or  six  o'clock 
in  the  evening,  or  at  night  after  dinner,  when  the 
temperature  is  heavy  and  oppressive.  In  the  middle 
of  the  Promenade  is  the  Cafe  Pre-Catalan,  where  you 
can  take  your  bitters  before  dinner,  or  your  beer  after- 
wards. If  you  feel  so  inclined,  there  is  an  excellent 
restaurant,  with  private  rooms  on  the  first  floor,  where 
you  can  enjoy  a  good  supper  in  good  company.  And 
the  feminine  element  will  not  be  wanting  at  the  supper 
as  it  was  in  the  old  days. 

Increase   of  the   Feminine  Element  in  Cochin- 
China.     The    number    of   European    women    has    in- 


138  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS  OF 

creased  enormously.  Many  of  the  officials  who  at  the 
beginning  of  the  occupation  were  bachelors,  married 
during  one  of  their  visits  to  France,  and  brought  out 
their  wives  and  families.  The  officers  of  the  various 
corps  connected  with  the  Navy,  also  obtained  permis- 
sion to  bring  out  their  wives. 

Each  family  has  its  horses  and  carriages.  The 
expense  of  purchasing  these  is  from  300  to  400  piasters, 
with  a  cost  of  twelve  to  fifteen  piasters  a  month  for 
the  keep  of  the  horses,  and  the  wages  of  the  coachman. 

On  leaving,  you  can  sell  the  whole  turn-out  (except 
the  coachman),  at  a  loss  of  about  forty  to  fifty  per 
cent,  after  you  ha^^e  used  it  for  three  or  four  years. 
It  will  be  seen  that  the  cost  is  a  mere  trifle. 

The  French  shopkeeper,  who  used  to  keep  a  bazaar, 
has  disappeared,  and  been  replaced  by  a  Chinaman, 
who  sells  the  same  articles  much  cheaper,  for  he  imports 
them  direct  from  France.  But  new  shops  of  all  sorts 
have  arisen,  florists,  milliners,  dressmakers,  booksellers, 
jewellers,  etc. ;  there  are  some  of  all  sorts,  not  forget- 
ting pork-butchers.  Instead  of  the  common  eating-house, 
kept  by  a  kind  of  cosmopolitan,  whose  cooking  burned 
your  palate,  there  are  now  many  fine  restaurants  and 
hotels.     It  will  be  seen  that  the  Colony  is  flourishing. 

The  Present  Life  of  the  European.  After  his 
daily  work  is  over,  if  the  European  wishes  to  amuse 
himself  in  the  evening  the  means  are  not  wanting. 

In  the  first  place  there  are  plenty  of  European 
families,  who  receive  their  friends,  and  offer  them  tea. 
When  the  Government  ball  takes  place,  there  are  some 
hundred  of  ladies  in  the  immense  ball-room,  and  danc- 
ing is  carried  on  from  ten  at  night  till  six  in  the 
morning  in  spite  of  the  torrid  heat. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  139 

A  small  and  pretty  French  theatre,  in  which  the 
heat  is  less  felt  than  it  is  in  some  of  the  large  theatres 
of  Paris,  has  been  built  in  the  middle  of  the  Rue 
Catenat.  During  the  season,  which  lasts  six  months 
(from  October  to  March),  there  are  four  performances 
a  week,  and  the  prices  of  admission  are  very  moderate. 

The  Colony  pays  a  subvention  of  ;640oo  a  year  to 
the  theatre,  which  enables  the  manager  to  engage 
good  artistes  for  every  sort  of  entertainment,  from 
farce  to  grand  opera.  We  have  heard  William  Tell 
given.  The  female  members  of  the  company  are 
numerous,  and  well-trained,  and  include,  besides  the 
leading  actresses,  chorus  ladies,  and  even  a  corps  de 
ballet.  All  these  ladies  like  to  pass  an  evening  at  the 
Pre-Catalan,  and  a  few  glasses  of  iced  champagne  will 
not  frighten  them. 

There  are  besides,  numerous  cafes  and  beer-houses, 
generally  kept  by  women,  or  girls,  who  are  not  inclined 
to  be  too  prudish.  This  is  very  different  from  the 
days  when  there  was  only  one  French  Cafe, — la  Rotonde, 
usually  called  the  Trois  Tetons, — kept  by  two  women 
whose  beauty  was  on  the  wane. 

During  the  six  months  of  the  year  when  the  theatre 
is  closed,  an  orchestra  of  female  musicians  from  Austria, 
plays  in  an  immense  hall  constructed  of  bamboo,  and 
filled  with  plants  and  flowers,  and  through  which  the 
air  circulates  freely.  These  concerts  are  frequented 
by  all  the  European  society. 

The  European  Prostitute.  In  the  daytime,  you 
may  see  on  the  promenade  of  the  Tour  d'Inspection, 
many  handsomely  appointed  victorias,  with  coachmen 
and  sais  dressed  in  showy  liveries.  On  the  cushions 
of  each  carriage  recline  one  or  two  ladies,  bepowdered 


140  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

and  berouged,  and  dressed  in  the  latest  fashion.  They 
are  the  "  old  guard "  of  Saigon,  taking  a  drive.  In 
the  evening,  these  deini-mondaines  have  their  box  at 
the  theatre,  or  their  seats  at  the  music-hall,  and  are 
surrounded  by  a  circle  of  admirers.  We  are  no  longer 
in  1 86 — ,  when  the  two  first  European  prostitutes  were 
raffled  for.  A  score  or  so  of  years  has  sufficed  to 
radically  alter  the  Colony,  and,  as  we  shall  see,  has 
caused  an  immense  improvement  in  morals. 

Great  Improvement  in  the  Morality  of  the 
Europeans  in  Cochin-China.  This  fact  struck  me 
as  soon  as  I  returned.  In  former  days,  the  European 
sodomite  had  been  far  from  a  rarity;  many  persons, 
some  of  them  of  high  rank,  had  this  unfortunate 
reputation.  They  were  not  despised,  or  thought  the 
worse  of  on  that  account.  They  were  merely  "  chaifed". 
In  the  cafes,  the  most  smutty  stories  were  told,  and 
laughed  at. 

Those  who  evinced  a  taste  for  male  prostitution, 
used  to  meet  together,  and  pass  the  evening  with  their 
associates ;  opium  was  smoked,  and  there  were  always 
boys  hanging  round  the  doors,  waiting  for  customers. 

Within  less  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  a  radical 
change  has  been  effected,  and  this  change  is  undeni- 
ably due  to  the  introduction  of  the  European  woman, 
and  a  similar  increase  in  the  number  of  Chinese  and 
Japanese  prostitutes. 

The  number  of  Europeans  addicted  to  the  habit  of 
opium  smoking  has  also  greatly  diminished.  They 
may  now  be  counted.  They  have  Annamite  mistresses 
skilled  in  preparing  the  opium  pipe ;  in  the  Army,  the 
officer  who  was  also  an  opium  smoker — frequent  enough 
thirty  years  ago — has  completely  disappeared. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  141 

As  to  the  European  sodomite,  hardly  more  than  the 
memory  of  him  may  be  said  to  exist.  Those  who  still 
preserve  this  reputation  are  old  merchants,  and  officials 
dating  back  to  the  old  regime.  They  are  regarded 
as  curiosities  by  the  new-comers.  That  amongst  these 
last,  there  may  be  some  who  have  a  weakness  for 
"Greek  love",  is  possible,  for  the  vice  exist  even  in 
Europe,  but  they  form  an  infinitesimally  small  minority, 
and  so  far  from  boasting  of  their  vice,  sedulously  con- 
ceal it.  They  require  secrecy,  and  in  order  not  to  arouse 
suspicion,  dare  not  even  introduce  the  nay  or  the  boy 
into  their  houses  by  night.  "  Other  times  "  have  pro- 
duced  "other  manners". 

The  Diminution  in  the  Male  and  Female  Pros- 
titution of  the  Natives  more  Apparent  than  Real. 

It  must  be  owned,  that  the  police  of  the  Colony  has 
made  the  most  praiseworthy  efforts  to  rid  Saigon  of 
the  plague  of  sodomite  nays  and  boys.  Permission  to 
reside  in  Saigon  is  only  given  to  Annamites  working 
for  some  European,  and  each  person  having  such  per- 
mission must  possess  a  card,  bearing  his  description 
and  his  photograph.  Any  native  who  is  met  with, 
who  does  not  possess  such  a  card,  and  who  has  no 
trade  by  which  he  gains  his  living,  is  arrested;  if  the 
medical  examination  shows  that  he  is  a  sodomite,  he 
is  sent  to  the  Penitentiary  at  Poulo  Condore. 

Unfortunately,  the  police  regulation  obliging  the  Chi- 
naman or  the  Annamite  to  carry  a  lighted  lantern 
after  nightfall,  and  forbidding  him  to  be  found  in  the 
street  after  midnight,  has  been  withdrawn.  It  was 
withdrawn  at  the  request  of  the  native  members  of  the 
Municipal  Council,  who  asserted  it  was  an  infringement 
of  personal   liberty.      The    nay   also   has   no  longer  a 


142  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS    OF 

basket.  He  sells  flowers,  which  are  now  extensively 
cultivated  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Saigon.  The  nay 
is  now  found,  in  small  bands,  at  the  doors  of  cafes, 
restaurants,  etc.  He  is  no  longer  alone,  as  he  used 
to  be,  but  is  accompanied  by  a  little  girl,  who  passes 
for  his  sister.  She  generally  carries  a  bundle  of  rose- 
buds, which  she  offers  to  you  with  a  most  engaging 
smile.  You  have  only  to  accept  them,  give  her  a  few 
halfpence,  and  at  the  same  time  show  her  one  or  two 
piasters.     That  is  quite  enough. 

How  the  Business  is  now  managed.  The  follow- 
ing information  I  derived  from  one  of  my  countrymen, 
whom  I  had  known  in  i86 — ,  and  whom  I  found  on 
returning  again.  He  had  (for  he  is  now  dead)  a  great 
liking  for  virgins, — a  propensity  which  was  well-known 
throughout  the  town.  This  is  how  soliciting  is  now 
done,  under  the  noses  of  the  European  policemen,  the 
only  ones  who  can  be  trusted  to  look  after  morals. 

"  The  boy  slips  away,  and  the  little  girl  remains 
within  a  few  paces  of  you,  without  losing  sight  of  you. 
When  you  leave,  she  walks  in  front  of  you,  and  you 
follow  her,  for  she  will  conduct  you  into  a  quiet  side- 
street  where  you  will  find  a  closed  cab,  the  driver  of 
which  is  always  an  Annamite.  The  nay  is  near  by, 
and  on  the  look-out  for  the  police.  You  enter  the  cab 
with  the  little  girl.  The  little  boy  sits  on  the  box,  by 
the  side  of  the  driver.  A  drive  of  an  hour  will  cost 
you  a  piaster  for  the  little  wretches,  and  half  a  piaster 
for  the  driver.  Of  course,  you  are  driven  outside  Saigon, 
generally  to  the  Botanical  Gardens  which  are  open  night 
and  day,  and  the  cab  will  take  you  back  to  your  house, 
if  the  drive  has  fatigued  you. 

If  you    want    a   whole   night   with   the  damsel,  the 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  143 

driver  will  conduct  you,  if  you  ask  him,  to  a  hut  in 
one  of  the  suberban  villages.  These  villages  are  not 
"in  the  district"  of  the  European  police,  and  are  only 
looked  after  by  the  rural  police  of  the  commune,  so 
the  proprietors  of  these  hospitable  hovels  are  never 
disturbed.  You  will  find  a  table  laid,  and  provisions 
at  reasonable  prices,  and  you  can  be  served  with 
coffee,  tea,  or  opium,  with  all  the  required  apparatus 
for  smoking.  But  take  care  of  your  purse,  for  you 
will  be  lucky  if  you  find  it  in  your  pocket  when  you 
wake  up  the  next  morning. 

The  Boy  of  the  Present  Day.  The  boy's  morals 
have  not  changed,  but  the  fear  of  the  police  has  led 
him  to  take  some  extra  precautions.  He  no  longer 
runs  the  risk  of  prowling  about  the  streets  of  Saigon, 
but  has  retired  to  the  villages,  and  established  the 
centre  of  his  operations  in  those  hospitable  cottages 
of  which  I  have  just  spoken,  and  also  in  the  clandes- 
tine gambling  dens,  which,  having  been  hunted  down 
by  the  European  police,  have  now  deserted  Saigon. 
It  is  in  these  places  that  the  few  remaining  admirers 
of  depraved  practices  must  seek  him.  They  need  only 
take  the  trouble  to  drive  out  to  these  villages,  and 
they  need  be  under  no  apprehensions  that  the  villagers 
will  pay  any  attention  to  the  comings  and  goings  of 
a  few  debauchees.  The  moment  that  you  open  your 
purse-strings,  the  Annamite  will  be  ready  to  display 
unlimited  indulgence  to  other  people's  vices.  In  this 
respect  his  notions  of  liberty  are  wide. 

The  Native  Collegian.  I  will  conclude  by  noticing 
one  more  category  of  young  "amateurs",  who  were 
almost   unknown  in  old  Cochin-China.     These  are  the 


144  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

pupils  of  the  large  French  College  of  Saigon,  and  the 
French  schools  of  the  interior. 

In  the  time  of  the  mandarins,  young  men,  who 
received  an  education  above  the  average,  might  com- 
pete in  the  public  examinations,  and  if  they  passed, 
obtain  employment  as  "men  of  letters".  Nowadays, 
when  they  have  been  taught  the  elements  of  primary 
instruction, — when  they  know  hov/  to  speak  French 
passably,  and  can  write,  somehow  or  other,  French 
and  Annamite  in  coggnu  (phonetic  characters) — when 
they  are  acquainted  with  the  four  rules  of  arithmetic, 
and  a  smattering  of  history  and  geography, — they 
are  turned  out  at  seventeen  or  eighteen  years  of  age, 
but  not  even  the  most  unimportant  place  is  offered 
them.  The  most  intelligent  become  interpreters  in  the 
law-courts.  The  others, — like  Jerome  Paturot, — wander 
about  the  streets,  looking  for  a  place  of  some  kind. 
They  must  live  somehow.  In  the  evening,  like  Dio- 
genes, but  without  his  lantern,  they  seek  for  a  man. 
The  absence  of  the  lantern,  and  the  change  in  costume, 
are  the  only  differences  between  them  and  the  hoy  of 
old  days; — they  are  just  as  much  wanting  in  moral 
sense,  and  capable  of  the  same  turpitude. 

They  wander  about  the  quarters  in  which  the  native 
houses  of  prostitution  are  situated,  ready  to  serve  as 
guides,  interpreters,  assistants,  and,  if  need  be,  associ- 
ates. They  extol  the  qualities  of  the  merchandise,  and, 
for  a  fair  and  moderate  price,  will  acquaint  the  women 
with  your  habits  and  customs. 

Woe  betide  the  European  green-horn  who  is  caught 
in  their  snares!  He  will  be  bombarded  with  letters 
demanding  employment,  and  if  they  gain  admittance 
into  your  house  in  any  capacity — as  secretary,  clerk, 
amanuensis,  or  what  not — you  will  soon  be  inevitably 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  MS 

robbed.  In  whatever  hiding-place  you  conceal  the 
key  of  your  cash-box,  they  will  be  sure  to  find  it. 
If  you  carry  it  about  you,  take  care  not  to  forget  and 
leave  it  in  your  clothes.  Your  boy,  too,  will  act  as 
accomplice  to  the  thief.  When  he  has  robbed  you, 
he  will  not  run  away, — he  is  not  such  a  fool.  But 
if  you  threaten  to  give  him  in  charge,  he  will  reply 
that  he  also  will  prefer  a  complaint  against  you,  for 
you  "abused  his  virtue".  The  most  simple  method  of 
avoiding  a  scandal, — which  would  not  bring  back  the 
stolen  money, — is  to  say  nothing,  and  turn  the  thief 
out  of  your  house,  for  if  you  act  otherwise,  he  will 
not  fail  to  bring  a  shameful  charge  against  you  ;  and 
when  the  case  is  heard,  an  Annamite  lawyer  (there 
are  some  who  have  taken  their  diploma  in  France) 
will  be  ready  to  abuse  you  in  the  heartiest  manner.  ^ 

EXCURSUS  TO  CHAPTER  VIII. 

Homosexuality     among   Tramps    in    America. 

There  is  much  to  be  said  on  this  subject.  Every  hobo 
(genuine  tramp)  in  the  United-States  knows  what 
"  unnatural  intercourse  "  means,  and  about  every  tenth 
man    practises    it,  and  defends  his  conduct.     Boys  are 

'  Strangers  arriving  in  Tangiers  are  assailed,  before  they  have  had 
time  to  disembark,  by  the  importunities  of  hotel  touts,  who  at  the  same 
time  proffer  their  services  as  interpreters  and  "  guides  "  to  anywhere  and 
anything.  If  the  unwary  accept  these  offers,  they  will  be  led  in  the 
evening  to  some  unwholesome  den  to  see  the  danse  du  ventre,  vilely 
executed,  and  woe  betide  the  unhappy  man  who  is  enticed  to  ascend  to 
the  upper  regions,  where  he  is  almost  sure  to  get  a  splendid  dose  of 
syphilis  besides  being  mulcted  of  dollars  right  and  left  by  guide  &  Co., 
all  combined   for  the  same  nefarious  purpose. 

The  WTiter  has  seen  the  above-mentioned  dance  far  better  and  more 
lasciviously  performed  for  two  sous  in  a  booth  on  the  Place  de  la  R6pu- 
blique  in  Paris. 


146  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS    OF 

the  victims  of  this  passion.  The  tramps  gain  possession 
of  these  boys  in  various  ways.  A  common  method 
is  to  stop  for  awhile  in  some  town,  and  gain  acquaint- 
ance with  the  slum  children.  They  tell  these  children 
all  sorts  of  stories  of  "life  on  the  road  ",  how  they  can 
ride  on  the  railways  for  nothing,  shoot  Indians,  etc., 
and  they  choose  some  boy  who  specially  pleases  them. 
By  smiles  and  flattering  caresses  they  let  him  know 
that  the  stories  are  meant  for  him  alone,  and  before 
long,  if  the  boy  is  a  suitable  subject,  he  smiles  back 
just  as  slily.  In  time  he  learns  to  think  that  he  is 
the  favourite  of  the  tramp,  who  will  take  him  on  his 
travels,  and  he  begins  to  plan  secret  meetings  with 
the  man.  The  tramp,  of  course,  continues  to  excite 
his  imagination  with  stories  and  caresses,  and  some 
fine  night  there  is  a  boy  less  in  the  town.  On  the 
road  the  lad  is  called  a  "  prushun  " ,  and  his  protector 
a  "jocker"  The  majority  of  "prushuns"  are  between 
ten  and  fifteen  years  of  age,  but  I  have  known  some 
under  ten  and  a  few  over  fifteen.  Each  is  compelled  by 
hobo-law  to  let  his  jocker  do  with  him  as  he  will, 
and  many,  I  fear,  learn  to  enjoy  his  treatment  of  them. 
They  are  also  expected  to  beg  in  every  town  they 
come  to,  any  laziness  on  their  part  receiving  very 
severe  punishment. 

How  the  act  of  unnatural  intercourse  takes  place  is 
not  clear.  From  what  I  have  personally  observed  I 
should  say  that  it  is  usually  what  they  call  "leg 
work "  (intercrural),  but  sometimes  tmr>itssto  penis  in 
anum,  the  boy  in  either  case  lying  on  his  stomach. 
I  have  heard  terrible  stories  of  the  physical  results  to 
the  boy  of  anal  intercourse. 

One  evening,  near  Cumberland,  Pennsylvania,  I  was 
an   unwilling   witness   of  one  of  the  worst  scenes  that 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  147 

can  be  imagined.  In  company  with  eight  hoboes,  I 
was  in  a  freight-car  attached  to  a  slowly  moving 
train.  A  coloured  boy  succeeded  in  scrambling  into 
the  car,  and  when  the  train  was  well  under  way,  he 
was  tripped  up  and  "  seduced "  (to  use  the  hobo 
euphemism)  by  each  of  the  tramps.  He  made  almost 
no  resistance,  and  joked  and  laughed  about  the  busi- 
ness as  if  he  had  expected  it.  This  indeed  appears  to 
be  the  general  feeling  among  the  boys  when  they 
have  been  thoroughly  initiated.  At  first  they  do  not 
submit,  and  are  inclined  to  run  away  or  fight.  Even 
little  fellows  under  ten  have  told  me  this  and  I  have 
known  them  to  wilfully  tempt  their  jockers  to  intercourse. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

My  visit  to  Tonqtiin. — Anthropological  characteristics  of  the 
Tonqiiinese  race.  —  The  Muofigs,  and  the  Xas,  or  Quans. —  TTie 
Chinese,  aud  the  Tonquinese-Chinese  half-breeds. — A  feiv  words 
concernii2g  the  importance  of  the  Chinese  element  in  Tonquin. — 
Chinese  piracy. — Manners,  habits,  customs,  religioji,  etc.,  of  the 
Tonqriinese. — Moral  characteristics,  and  fortns  and  perversions  of 
carnal  lusts.  —  The  European   Colony,  and  its  morality. 

My  Visit  to  Tonquin.  I  lived  a  little  less  than  two 
years  in  Tonquin,  a  good  long  time  after  my  return 
from  Cochin-China,  I  was  able,  however,  owing  to 
the  experience  acquired  in  the  last  mentioned  Colony, 
to  turn  my  short  visit  to  good  account. 

Anthropological  Characteristics  of  the  Tonquin- 
ese.  The  Tonquinese  ascended  from  Central  Annam 
towards  the  North,  as  the  Cochin-Chinese  descended 
from  the  same  place  to  Cochin-China.  They  con- 
quered, and  drove  back  into  the  mountains,  the  native 
races  of  the  Muongs,  Xas,  or  Quans,  At  the  time 
when  we  came  to  Tonquin,  the  Chinese  had  also  come 
down  from  the  North  to  conquer  the  land  in  their  turn. 

It  would  therefore  be  but  natural  that  we  should 
find  almost  the  same  anthropological  characteristics  in 
two  peoples  of  the  same  race,  who  differ  from  one 
another  as  little  as  a  Languedocean  does  from  a  native 
of  Avignon,  or  a  Provencal. 

148 


UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF   ANTHROPOLOCtY.  149 

The  observations  I  made  in  Tonquin  did  but  con- 
firm those  I  had  previously  made  in  Cochin-China,  so 
that  I  shall  note  here  only  the  differences,  where  they 
occurred.  Moreover,  I  found  at  Tonquin,  a  number  of 
old  military  Inspectors  from  Cochin-China,  who  declared 
that  the  Tonquinese  showed  the  same  moral  qualities, 
and  had  the  same  customs,  habits,  etc.,  as  the  Cochin- 
Chinese.  They  are,  besides,  ruled  by  the  same  central 
Government  of  Hue,  and  use  the  same  code  of  laws — 
the  Gia-Long. 

The  Tonquinese  is  bigger,  more  robust,  and  better 
proportioned  than  the  Cochin-Chinese ;  he  is  also  much 
taller. 

This  is  due  to  the  influence  of  a  climate  in  which 
the  temperature  descends  below  68°  F.  in  winter,  and 
is  only  75°  F.  in  spring,  whereas  at  Saigon  the  average 
temperature  of  those  two  seasons  in  8o|°  F.,  or  only 
3^"  below  the  average  of  the  summer.  The  head  of 
the  Tonquinese  is  not  so  big,  and  the  face  less  prog- 
nathous. The  forehead  is  low,  the  limbs  still  slender, 
but  the  chest  is  more  developed.  The  skin  is  a  trifle 
whiter,  but  the  mucous  surfaces  are  absolutely  of  the 
same  colour.  The  genital  organs  of  both  sexes  are 
perhaps  a  little  more  developed,  but  their  comforma- 
tion  is  the  same.  In  short  it  may  be  said  that  the 
Tonquinese  is  the  elder  brother  of  the  Southern  Annam- 
ite,  but  simply  a  little  more  robust,  The  Tonquinese 
woman  is  prettier  than  the  woman  of  Lower  Cochin- 
China,  and  you  do  not  meet  with  pot-bellied  children, 
as  you  do  at  Saigon.     The  race  is  incontestably  finer. 

The  Muongs.  The  Muongs  appear  to  represent  the 
autochthonous  race.  Their  anthropological  characteris- 
tics  are  those  of  the  Moys  of  Cochin-China,  but  they 


ISO  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

are  stronger,  and  more  intelligent,  and  although  they 
have  been  driven  back  to  the  woods  and  the  moun- 
tains, their  number,  which  is  nearly  four  hundred  thou- 
sand, enables  them  to  resist  with  more  success  the  Giao- 
Chi.  I  have  met  some  specimens  of  the  race,  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Ninh-binh;  they  are  civiHzed,  and 
divided  into  tribes  under  patriarchs,  like  the  tribes  of 
ancient  Israel.  On  the  upper  waters  of  Red  River,  the 
Muong  is  more  savage,  and  more  resembles  his  degraded 
brother,  the  Moy  of  Cochin-China.  The  Muong  lives 
by  hunting,  rearing  cattle,  and  working  in  the  forests. 

He  is  brave,  and  uses,  both  in  the  chase  and  war, 
small  poisoned  arrows,  shot  out  of  a  short  cross-bow, 
which,  however,  has  a  good  range ;  with  this  weapon 
they  defended  themselves  against  the  matchlocks  and 
flint  guns  of  the  Annamites,  These  last,  finding  they 
could  not  exterminate  their  enemies,  brought  them  into 
subjection,  and  make  them  pay  tribute.  According  to 
the  traveller,  Villeroi  d'Auges,  the  Muongs  have  sin- 
gular funeral  customs ;  they  enclose  the  body  in  a  trunk 
of  a  tree,  and  place  it  in  the  hut  of  the  nearest  relative 
of  the  deceased,  before  confiding  it  to  the  earth. 

The  Moys  and  Muongs,  being  branches  of  the  same 
race,  and  closely  related,  I  refer  the  reader  to  what  1 
have  said  regarding  the  characteristics,  manners,  etc., 
of  the  former. 

The  Xas,  or  Quans.  These  are  savages,  whose 
ancestors  descended  from  the  high  lands  of  Laos,  and 
who  inhabit  the  mountainous  district  to  the  north  of 
Tonquin.  They  talk  a  peculiar  language,  and  they  wear 
cotton  drawers,  a  shawl  of  bright  colours,  and  a  kind 
of  cap  on  the  head.  I  possess  very  little  information 
about  this  race,  and  I  have  never  seen  a  specimen. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  ISl 

The  Chinaman,  and  the  Chinese  Half-breed  at 
Tonquin.  The  Chinese  of  Tonquin  are  identically  the 
same  as  those  who  have  emigrated  to  Cochin-China, 
but  they  are  much  more  numerous,  and  in  the  regions 
of  Cao-bang,  Lang-son,  and  Lao-kay  form  the  majority. 
The  Chinaman  often  marries  a  native  woman,  and 
compels  his  companion  to  adopt  his  religion,  his  man- 
ners and  customs,  and  even  eat  the  same  food,  and 
wear  the  same  clothes,  as  the  children  of  the  Celestial 
Empire.  Half-breeds  are  met  with  in  the  coast-pro- 
vinces, and  I  saw  a  good  many  at  Hanoi.  They  are 
quite  as  intelligent  as  the  Minhuongs  of  Cho-lon,  but 
taller  and  more  vigorous.  The  children  of  the  Chinese 
follow  their  father's  example  and  despise  their  com- 
patriots, and  even  their  mothers. 

Before  the  arrival  of  the  French,  the  Celestials  had 
already  invaded  the  land,  and  were  slowly  but  surely 
transforming  it  into  a  conquered  country.  They  had, 
undeniably,  all  the  trade,  and  their  language  was 
driving  out  the  native  tongue.  The  French  arrested 
this  progress,  and  thus  came  into  rivalry  with  a  nation 
of  three  or  four  hundred  millions  of  inhabitants.  Time 
alone  will  show  whether  France  has  not  been  im- 
prudent, in  extending  her  conquests  to  the  frontiers  of 
China. 

Chinese  Piracy.  The  Chinese  have  always  con- 
sidered the  Tonquinese  as  beings  of  an  inferior  race, 
only  fit  to  be  taxed  and  worked  without  mercy.  The 
method  of  conquest  of  this  old  civilized  nation  —perhaps 
the  oldst  civilized  nation  in  the  world — has  never 
changed,  and  still  consists  of  the  pillage,  ruin,  and 
devastation  of  the  conquered  country, — a  method  iden- 
tical with  that  of  the  Romans,  in  regard  to  the  peoples 


152  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

of  Western  Asia  (Persia,  Assyria,  etc.)  before  the 
Christian  era,  and  of  the  Europeans  before  the  mod- 
ern era. 

Chinese  pirates  infest  the  Gulf  of  Tonquin,  the  coast 
of  Hainam,  the  mouths  of  the  Delta,  and  the  islands  of 
the  coast.  The  bars,  placed  by  the  natives  at  the 
mouths  of  the  rivers,  have  never  been  able  to  stop  the 
Chinese  junks.  These  pirates  act  much  the  same  as 
the  old  Normans,  who  used  to  disembark,  attack  the 
villages  and  unprotected  towns,  massacre  all  those  who 
resisted,  and  re-embark,  carrying  away  with  them  all 
the  marriageable  girls  and  the  young  men.  The  French 
occupation  has  put  some  restraint  upon  these  depreda- 
tions, ^  but  not  stopped  them  altogether. 

'  Those  people  who  may  imagine  that  piracy  on  the  high  seas  is  a 
thing  of  the  past,  will  read  the  following  cutting  from  the  "  Daily  Tele- 
graph" of  August   lOth  (1897)  with  some  astonishment. 

PIRACY  IN  THE  EAST  INDIES.     ATTACK  ON 
A  BRITISH  STEAMER. 

Lloyd's  agents  at  Benang,  under  date  of   14th  ult.,  report  as  follows: 

"The  British  steamer  Pegu,  owned  in  Penang,  left  this  port  on  7th, 
bound  for  Edie  and  the  usual  ports  up  to  Olehleh.  At  Edie  she  took 
on  board,  as  passengers,  a  party  of  some  ten  Achinese,  and  one  woman. 
The  men,  as  is  customary  on  that  coast,  were  searched  for  arms,  but 
none  were  found,  and  it  is  supposed  these  were  all  concealed  on  the 
woman's  person.  At  about  seven  p.m.  on  the  9th,  when  the  master, 
Captain  Henry  Ross,  and  the  chief  engineer,  Craigie,  were  at  dinner  in 
the  saloon,  they  were  set  upon,  without  warning,  by  these  men.  The 
engineer,  though  wounded  by  stabs  about  the  body  and  arms,  managed 
to  escape,  and  barricaded  himself  in  the  engine-room.  Captain  Ross  also 
escaped  from  the  saloon,  but  in  trying  to  gain  the  bridge  was  overtaken, 
stabbed  fatally,  and  disembowelled. 

"The  Achinese  then  turned  their  attention  to  the  rest  of  the  crew, 
killed  the  mate  and  steersman  on  the  bridge,  and  five  of  the  passengers, 
all  natives,  while  five  other  passengers  jumped  overboard,  and  were 
drowned.     In    addition    to    these,   fourteen    others    of   the    crew    and 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  153 

On  land,  the  pirates  infest  the  North  and  North 
West  provinces,  which  they  have  rendered  almost  a 
desert.  The  Black  Flags,  under  their  old  chief  Luu- 
Vinh-Phuoc,  have  established  themselves  along  the 
frontiers  of  China,  and  carry  off  the  daughters  of  the 
luckless  mountaineers,  and  sell  them  at  Lao-Kay,  to 
Chinese,  who  come  specially  from  the  North  on  purpose 
to  buy  them.  The  boys  are  either  enrolled  in  the 
pirate  bands,  or  held  as  hostages. 

Manners,  Customs,  and  Religion  of  the  Ton- 
quinese.  There  is  very  little  difference  between  the 
Tonquinese,  and  the  Annamites  of  Cochin-China.  The 
Tonquinese  are  laborious,  and  you  meet  few  poor 
wretches  who  spend  their  lives  in  begging.  They  are 
essentially  labourers,  though  some  exercise  certain 
industrial  professions,  and  are  fishermen,  brickmakers 
potters,  etc.  The  women  work  a  great  deal,  and,  in 
the  country,  even  cultivate  the  rice  fields  along  with 
the  men.  In  the  towns  they  carry  on  business,  and 
keep  shops. 

The  costume  is  almost  the  same  as  in  Cochin-China, 
except  the  shoes  and  sandals  of  plaited  straw,  worn 
in  the  winter.  The  women's  dress  is  a  little  longer, 
and  they  tie  a  kekoitan  (a  bright  coloured  scarf)  round 
the  waist,  and  round  the  neck. 

The  huts  of  the  Tonquinese  are  analogous  to  those 
of  the  Annamites,  and  their  food  is  the  same,  and 
quite  as  much  salted  and  spiced.     Chinese  tea  is  only 

passengers  were  more  or  less  severely  wounded.  Having  gained  pos- 
session of  the  ship  in  this  way,  they  proceeded  to  phifider  the  strong 
room,  securing  about  ^15,000  in  coin,  with  which  they  made  good  their 
escape  in  the  ship's  boats,  landing  on  the  Achin  coast  near  Simpang 
Olim. 


154  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

drunk  on  feast  days,  on  ordinary  occasions  a  decoction 
of  the  native  tea,    called  Hue  tea,  is  used. 

The  religions  are  the  same  in  Tonquin  as  in  Annam 
and  Lower  Cochin-China ;  the  religion  of  Confucius, 
for  the  educated  classes;  an  altered  form  of  Buddhism, 
superstitions,  and  belief  in  sorcery,  for  the  people. 
The  ceremonies  of  marriage  and  burial  do  not  present 
any  essential  difference. 

Moral  Characteristics  of  the  Tonquinese.     The 

moral  characteristics  of  this  race  greatly  resemble 
those  of  the  Southern  Annamite,  but  this  last  enjoys 
some  tranquillity  under  the  French  rule  which  has 
relieved  him  of  the  despotism  of  the  Mandarins,  whilst 
the  unfortunate  Tonquinese  has  to  serve  three  masters, 
the  old  Mandarin,  who,  being  still  all  powerful,  con- 
tinues his  exactions;  the  French  protectorate  which 
defends  him  as  well  as  it  can  from  the  Mandarin  and 
Chinese  pirate;  and  lastly  the  pirates,  who  rob  him 
and  hold  him  to  ransom.  France  makes  him  pay  a 
subsidy,  the  Mandarin  keeps  up  the  Ka-doui,  which 
still  flourishes  in  Tonquin,  and  the  Chinese  pirate  puts 
the  finishing  touch,  by  burning  down  his  house,  and 
cutting  off  his  head,  if  he  shows  the  least  resistance. 
The  Tonquinese  peasant  therefore,  is  gentle,  timid, 
and  fearful.  He  only  asks  to  be  left  in  peace  to  till 
his  rice  field,  and  earn  his  daily  bread  thereby.  Being 
almost  without  defensive  arms,  it  is  impossible  for  him 
to  defend  himself  against  the  incursions  of  the  pirates, 
and  the  Chinese  regular  troops  disguised  as  pirates, 
and  armed  with  breech-loading  rifles.  His  fate  is  worthy 
of  interest  and  pity. 

Forms  and  Perversions  of  Carnal  Passions  in 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  155 

Tonquin.  I  can  but  repeat  here  what  I  have  already 
said  concerning  the  Southern  Annamite,  the  race 
being  the  same,  and  Chinese  civihzation  having  pro- 
duced the  same  effects  in  Tonquin  as  in  Lower  Cochin- 
China. 

No  appreciable  difference  is  to  be  found  in  the 
forms,  or  perversions,  of  sexual  intercourse.  The  nay 
and  boy  flourish  at  Hanoi  and  Hai-phong,  as  they  do 
at  Saigon,  and  are  as  impudent  and  depraved,  and  as 
great  gamblers  and  thieves.  The  daylight  whore,  and 
the  prostitute  of  the  Tonquinese  bamboo,  practise  the 
same  methods,  as  in  Cochin-China, 

The  Tonquinese  are  as  passionately  fond  of  gambling 
and  opium  as  their  congeners  of  the  South,  and  are 
addicted  to  all  the  forms  of  debauchery  connected 
with  those  habits. 

Lasciviousness,  gambling,  pederasty,  and  sodomy, 
are  innate  in  the  race.  Having  definitely  stated  this 
fact,  let  us  pass  on  to  another  subject. 

The  European  Colony  in  Tonquin.  The  number 
of  vicious  Europeans  addicted  to  the  vice  of  sodomy, 
and  the  passion  for  opium,  was  sensibly  less  than 
when  Cochin-China  was  first  colonized.  This  is  due 
to  the  more  rapid  progress  in  colonization  in  Tonquin, 
which,  in  less  than  ten  years,  had  made  as  much 
progress  as  the  elder  colony  did  in  twenty-five.  Many 
have  come  here  from  the  other  colony,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  English  and  Americans,  who  have  been  at- 
tracted by  the  mines  of  coal  and  various  metals  which 
do  not  exist  in  Cochin-China. 

White  women  were  implanted  at  Tonquin  very 
quickly,  the  climate  being  decidedly  superior  to  that 
of    Cochin-China,    the   cool   temperature    of  the  winter 


156  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

correcting    the    anaemic    effects    of  the  intense  heat  of 
the  summer. 

Owing  to  all  these  causes,  sodomy  and  pederasty 
have  not  had  time  to  take  very  deep  root  in  the 
European  colony,  and  the  number  of  worshippers  of 
the  anal  Venus  has  been  greatly  reduced,  and  will  be 
more  so  in  the  future. 

What  I  wish  chiefly  to  note  here,  is  the  radical 
difference  between  the  pederasty  of  the  x\nnamite  of 
the  North  or  the  South,  and  also  of  the  Chinese,  and 
that  of  the  European.  It  is  a  general  characteristic 
of  the  Asiatics,  who  are  lewd,  and  devoid  of  moral 
restraint,  whilst  on  the  contrary,  in  the  European  races 
it  is  of  an  esoteric  character,  peculiar  to  certain  indi- 
viduals, mere  erotic  idiots,  whom  the  bulk  of  their 
fellows  have  always  scorned  and  loathed  as  they 
deserve. 


CHAPTER  X. 

My  sojourn  in  Cambodia. — Anthropological  characteristics  of  the 
Cambodian.  —  The  organs  of  generation  of  the  Cambodians.— 
Foreign  races  inhabiting  Cambodia.  —  Malays  and  Chatns. — 
Chinese.  —  Portugtcese. — Annamites.  —  Social  condition  of  Catn- 
bodia.  — Decline  of  the  country  a7id  of  the  Kmer  race. — Royal 
prerogatives  before  the  French  Protectorate.  —  The  Abbaioureach, 
and  the  Abbareach. —  The  five  Ministers. —  The  Mandarin  class. — 
The  oath  of  the  Mandarins. —  The  middle-classes.  —  Free  men. — 
Slaveiy. — Habitations.  —  Costume. — Food. — Moral  characteristics 
of  the  Cambodian.  —  Curious  customs  attending  the  castration  of 
animals.  —  Bravery  of  the  Cambodian.  —  Hunting  the  elephajit 
and  rhinoceros.  —  Religion. —  The  Bonze  and  the  Kmer  Pope. — 
The  Somdach-Prea-Sam-Creach. —  The  idle  life  of  the  Bonzes. — 
The  white  elephant  of  Noro-dom. —  Cambodian  Creeds. — Religions 
festivals.  —  Family  festivals. — Superstitions.  —  The  Feast  of  the 
Dead.  —  Tke  Festivals  of  Catsac  and  the  Blessing  of  the  Waters. 
—  Human  sacrifices. —  Cambodian  legislation  and  justice.—  Causes 
of  the  decadence  of  the  Kmer  race.  —  The  vulgar  tongue  and  the 
sacred  language. 

My  Sojourn  in  Cambodia.  I  lived  several  months 
in  Cambodia  in  1866,  during  the  civil  war  caused  by 
the  struggle  between  Noro-dom,  the  reigning  king, 
supported  by  the  French,  and  his  brother  Pra-Keo- 
Pha,  his  rival  for  the  throne.  In  order  not  to  exceed 
the  scope  of  this  work,  and  swell  the  book  immoder- 
ately, I  shall  deal  very  briefly  with  all  those  manners, 

157 


1S8  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

customs,    and   habits,    which    do   not    directly   concern 
sexual  intercourse. 

Ciampa,  the  ancient  Kingdom  of  the  Kmers,  was 
formerly  very  powerful ;  it  comprised  the  whole  of 
Cochin-China,  a  part  of  the  Empire  of  Annam,  the 
present  Kingdom  of  Cambodia,  and  the  provinces  of 
Baltambang  and  Angkor  belonging  to  Siam.  These 
countries  formerly  possessed  a  high  degree  of  civiliza- 
tion, which  is  still  shown  by  the  magnificent  monuments 
and  buildings,  especially  by  the  fine  city  of  Angkor. 
The  present  race  of  Cambodians,  degenerate  descend- 
ants of  the  old  Kmers,  cannot  decipher  the  characters 
in  the  ancient  language  engraved  on  the  monuments 
of  their  ancestors. 

Anthropological  Characteristics  of  the  Cam- 
bodians. When  one  has  daily  been  in  the  habit  of 
seeing  the  Annamites,  you  are  astonished  to  find  the 
Cambodian  so  much  bigger,  for  he  is  of  the  average 
height  of  the  European  of  the  South.  He  is  better 
proportioned,  and  noticeably  more  robust  than  the 
Annamite.  His  body  is  square,  his  shoulders  large,  his 
muscular  system  is  well  developed,  but,  nevertheless, 
you  never  find  the  muscles  at  all  salient.  The  skull 
is  long  and  oval ;  the  forehead  flat  or  round,  the  eyelids 
are  not  oblique,  but  the  upper  eyelid  is  always  pulled 
down  at  the  corner  of  the  eye ;  the  nose  is  not  so 
flat  as  that  of  the  Annamite,  and  the  nostrils  l6ss 
gaping.  The  mouth  is  of  an  average  size,  the  teeth 
are  lacquered,  and  spoiled  by  betel  chewing.  The 
chin  is  round,  and  slopes  back,  the  ears  low,  and 
sticking  out  from  the  cheeks,  but  the  cheek-bones  are 
not  so  high,  and  less  projecting  than  in  the  Chinese 
and    Annamite   races.     The   hair   is    generally   a  dark 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  159 

chestnut,  instead  of  being  black  as  in  the  Annamite, 
and  is  not  so  stiff,  but  on  the  contrary  sometimes  flat, 
sometimes  slightly  wavy.  The  hair  of  the  Cambodian 
is  not  luxuriant.  'J  he  shoulders  are  horizontal  and 
large,  the  chest  rounded,  the  pectoral  muscles  project- 
ing, the  arms  strong.  The  hand  and  foot  are  very 
big,  with  strong  ankles  and  wrists,  and  the  fingers 
bony  and  long, — which  is  not  the  case  with  the  An- 
namites  and  Chinese.  The  calves  of  the  legs  are  well 
placed,  and  well  developed,  and  in  this  respect  the 
Cambodians  are  the  best  endowed  of  all  the  Indo- 
Chinese  peoples. 

The  skin  is  of  a  very  pronounced  dark  yellow;  in 
those  parts  exposed  to  the  sun,  such  as  the  face,  back, 
hands,  and  legs,  the  skin  is  darker.  The  general 
colour  of  the  skin  very  closely  resembles  that  of  the 
Mulatto,  and  to  an  inexperienced  observer,  there  is  a 
certain  physical  resemblance  between  a  strong  Cam- 
bodian, and  the  offspring  of  the  black  and  white  races, 
but  an  examination  of  the  organs  of  generation  would 
show  an  essential,  and  characteristic,  difference. 

The  two  physicians  from  whom  I  have  borrowed 
the  greater  part  of  this  description,  have  not  examined 
the  genital  organs;  my  special  studies  have  enabled 
me  to  supply  this  deficiency. 

^  The  Organs  of  Generation  of  the  Cambodian. 

The    organs   of  generation    are  much  more  developed 

'  Maurel  describes  them  as  follows : 

"  Their  buttocks  are  largely  developed ;  the  pubes  but  little  prominent. 
The  Labia  majora,  thin  or  medium,  and  not  much  garnished  with  hairs. 
The  Labia  minora  are  long  or  medium,  and  are  recovered  with  a  pigment 
layer,  if  not  uniform,  at  all  events  pretty  generally  distributed.  The 
Clitoris  is  of  medium  size,  the  vagina  rosy,  and  the  columns  well 
marked.     The  distance  from  the  anus  to  the  fork  varies  from  oin.  "8  to 


160  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

in  the  Cambodian  than  in  the  Annamite.  In  shape 
generally,  and  dimensions,  there  is  less  difference  be- 
tween a  Frenchman  and  a  Cambodian,  than  between 
the  last  mentioned  and  an  Annamite.  Though  the 
skin  of  the  body,  the  scrotum,  and  the  yard,  are 
nearly  of  the  same  tint  as  in  the  Mulatto,  the  colour 
of  the  mucous  surfaces  of  the  gland,  and  of  the  vulva 
in  the  woman,  are  nearly  those  of  the  European,  but 
of  a  darker  red,  with  a  light  tint  approaching  to 
yellow,  but  brighter  than  the  colour  of  the  same  parts 
in  the  Annamite,  which  is  more  yellowish,  and  never 
of  a  dirty,  reddish  brown,  as  in  the  mulatto.  In  the 
child,  the  prepuce  is  normal,  and  in  the  man,  few 
cases  of  phimosis  occur.  The  pubes,  in  both  sexes, 
is  rather  scantily  covered  with  hair  of  a  dark  chestnut, 
and  slightly  curled.  The  Cambodian  woman  plucks 
the  hair  out  of  the  pubes.  Her  genital  organs  are 
better  developed  than  those  of  the  Annamite  woman. 
In  their  general  appearance,  and  in  the  oblique  position 
of  the  vagina,  the  Cambodian  woman  approaches  nearer 
to  the  Frenchwoman  than  the  Annamite.  The  Cam- 
bodian woman  does  not  suffer,  like  the  last  named, 
from  that  distressing  complaint,  the  flowers.  The  cli- 
toris I  found,  in  some  cases,  fairly  well  developed, 
and  also  the  lesser  lips,  but  generally  speaking  the 
dimensions  of  these  two  parts  are  normal. 

Syphilis    is   tolerably    rare    in    Cambodia,    although 
there  are  some   skin   diseases.     Longevity   is  not  rare 

1  in.  i8;    and    Uiat    of    the    neck  of  the  vulva  from  oin.  98  to   I  in.  96; 
that    from    the    vaginal  orifice  to  the  anterior  cul-de-sac  from   I  in.  57   to 

2  in.  35,  and  to  the  posterior  cul-de-sac  from   2  in.  35   to  3  in.  144." 

Maurel.  E.  Alemoire  sur  l' Anthropologie  des  divers  peiiplcs  vivant 
actucllement  an  Cambodge .  Ale'moires  de  la  Societe  d' Anthropologie 
de  Paris.  II  se'rie,  t.  IV,  Fascicule  IV.     Paris   1893,  P-  528. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  161 

amongst  the  Cambodians;  you  meet  many  persons  of  from 
sixty  to  eighty  years  of  age,  and  some  even  older. 

In  short,  the  Cambodian  is  physically  superior  to  the 
Annamite,  to  whom  the  chignon  gives  a  womanish 
appearance,  whilst  the  closely  cut  brush  of  hair  of  the 
Cambodian  gives  him  a  more  manly  aspect. 

Foreign  Races  inhabiting  Cambodia. — The  Anna- 
mites.  The  Annamite,  ^  small  and  weak  as  he  is, 
is  the  conqueror,  and  the  Cambodian,  though  big  and 
strong,  the  conquered.  He  has  been  slowly  driven 
back  from  the  South  to  the  North  by  the  Annamites, 
of  whom  there  are  nearly  a  hundred  thousand  in  Cam- 
bodia, and  who  continue  gradually  to  effect  the  peace- 
ful conquest  of  the  country. 

The  Malays  and  Chams.  The  Malays  occupy, 
principally,  the  right  bank  of  the  Mekong.  They  much 
resemble  their  congeners  of  Cochin-China.  The  Chams 
inhabit  the  old  Ciampa.  They  are  scattered  to  the 
North  and  North  West  of  our  colony,  towards  Tay- 
ninh.  They  are  an  agricultural  and  commercial  people. 
I  have  no  particular  information  concerning  them. 

The   Chinese.      They   come   more   especially  from 

'  According  to  Mondiere  {a)  the  Annamite  woman  in  Cambodia  has 
her  genital  organs  differently  formed  than  the  European  woman.  She 
has  not  the  wide  opening  nor  the  large  curving,  which  in  our  women 
results  from  the  elongation  of  the  perinaeum ;  all  the  parts  lying  between 
the  Os  Pubis,  the  Os  Ischii  and  the  Os  Coccygis  take  the  form  of  a 
trapezoid.  Neither  the  perinseum  nor  the  exterior  parts  are  arched ; 
there  exists  a  flattening  of  the  large  and  small  labia,  and  the  mutterschcide 
(vagina)  appears  to  be  very  short  so  that  the  orifice  of  the  uterus  is 
quite  close  to  the  entry  of  the  vagina. 

(a)  Mondiere — Monographic  de  la  femmc  de  Cochinchina — Mem.  de 
Soc.  d'Ahthrop,  de  Paris,   1 880,  p.   250. 


162  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

Hainam  and  Fo  Kien.  They  carry  on  all  the  chief 
trade  of  Cambodia.  The  half-breeds,  which  result  from 
their  marriages  with  native  women,  preserve  a  good 
deal  of  the  physical  appearance  of  the  Celestials,  but 
— inversely  to  what  happens  in  Cochin-China  and  Ton- 
quin,  where  they  are  real  Chinese — they  have  adopted, 
in  Cambodia,  the  manners  and  creeds  of  the  Kmers. 
They  are,  however,  more  laborious  than  these  latter, 
and  devote  themselves  to  tilling  the  land,  which  they 
prefer  to  trade. 

The  Portuguese.  The  Portuguese  penetrated  into 
Cambodia  at  about  the  same  time  as  they  did  into 
Siam,  where  they  established  themselves  in  15 16.  They 
have  left  some  descendants,  bearers  of  a  string  of  high 
sounding  names,  but  none  of  these  descendants  can 
speak  the  Portuguese  language.  Physically  and  morally, 
they  are  true  Cambodians.  The  favourite  counsellor 
and  factotum  of  King  Noro-dom  is  a  certain  "  Da 
Sonza  Inigos,  etc.",  a  descendant  of  a  Portuguese. 

Social  Condition  of  Cambodia.  —Decadence  of 
the  Country  and  of  the  Kmers.  When,  in  1863, 
the  French  first  took  Cambodia  under  their  protection, 
this  unlucky  country  was  being  pressed  by  two  power- 
ful neighbours,  Annam  and  Siam,  who  for  two  hundred 
years  had  been  disputing  for  portions  of  the  land,  and 
wresting  in  turn  from  it  its  most  fertile  provinces. 
The  Cambodians  of  to-day  are  the  last  remnants  of  a 
great  people, — the  Kmers,  with  whom  religion  was  all 
powerful,  and  whose  government  was  an  absolute 
monarchy. 

The  power  of  the  Buddhist  priests  is  equal  to  that 
of    the    King,    and    they    are    almost  absolutely  inde- 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  163 

pendent.  Next  to  them  come  the  Mandarins,  who  do 
no  work  and  ruin  the  country  by  their  exactions  and 
plundering.  Under  all  these  come  the  poor  wretched 
people,  robbed,  taxed,  and  over- worked.  There  is  no 
intermediate  middle-class. 

The  Royal  Prerogatives  before  the  French  Pro- 
tectorate. The  King  exercised  the  most  absolute  and 
unlimited  power,  he  was  sole  governor  and  sole  pro- 
prietor of  the  Kingdom.  He  appointed  all  officers, 
and  his  decrees  were  law;  he  fixed  the  amount  of 
taxation,  and  had  the  power  of  life  and  death,  the 
right  to  pardon,  and  to  revise  judgments. 

According  to  Aymonier,  ^  a  former  resident  in  Cam- 
bodia, from  whom  I  have  taken  many  of  these  details, 
any  Cambodian  who  thought  that  he  had  been  denied 
justice  or  fair  play,  could  use  the  rong  deyka,  by 
going  to  the  palace  at  the  time  of  the  King's  audience, 
and  having  some  blows  struck  on  the  tam-tam  by  an 
official  who  was  paid  four  ligatures  (two-thirds  of  a 
piaster)  for  each  stroke.  The  King  then  sent  to  hear 
the  complaint.  The  sar  tuhk  cost  nothing.  It  sufficed 
for  the  complainant  to  prostrate  himself  before  the  King 
as  he  was  passing,  and  hold  above  his  head  a  written 
statement  of  his  case,  which  the  King  then  took. 

The  King  is  supposed  to  be  of  divine  origin,  and 
adds  to  his  name  such  high-sounding  qualifications  as, 
"  descendant  of  the  Angels  and  of  the  God  Vishnu ; 
full  of  virtues  as  the  Sun,  precious  as  crystal,  etc.,  etc." 
No  one  may  speak  to  him  unless  prostrate  on  hands 
and  knees.  No  one  may  dare  to  wake  him  when  he 
is  asleep,  except  one  of  his  wives,  who  is  permitted  to 

*  AVMONiER — Cochinchine- Excursions  et  reconnaissances,  (No.  lb, 
Globus,  1885,  vol.  48,   No.    7). 


164  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS  OF 

lightly  touch  his  foot.  It  is  high  treason  to  put  a 
hand  on  his  sacred  person:  Moura,  one  of  the  resi- 
dents, relates  concerning  this,  that  in  1874  Noro-dom 
was  thrown  violently  out  of  his  carriage,  and  lay 
insensible  on  the  ground.  None  of  his  Mandarins,  or 
servants,  who  were  present — for  the  accident  happened 
in  the  court-yard  of  the  palace, — dared  to  help  him, 
and  it  was  some  European,  who  chanced  to  be  there, 
who  carried  the  wounded  King  into  the  palace.  The 
Queen  of  Spain,  when  the  country  was  an  absolute 
monarchy,  enjoyed  the  same  privilege — if  it  be  one. 

The    Abbaioureach    and   the   Abbareach.      By 

these  names  are  designated  the  king  who  has  ab- 
dicated, and  the  first  "Prince  of  the  Blood  ",  or  Second 
King,  who  will  inherit  the  crown  on  the  death  of  the 
King.  Next  to  him  comes  the  prea  voreachini,  or 
first  "Princess  of  the  Blood".  Each  of  these  members 
of  the  royal  family  bears  rule,  by  virtue  of  peculiar 
laws  and  customs,  over  certain  provinces,  as  appanages 
of  his  or  her  rank,  and  governs  them  absolutely. 

The  Five  Ministers.  Five  Ministers,— ///<?  chaufea, 
or  Prime  Minister  and  President  of  the  Council;  the 
iotcmreach,  or  Minister  of  Justice ;  the  heaiig,  or  Min- 
ister of  the  Palace  and  of  Finance ;  the  chakrey,  or 
Minister  of  War,  and  the  kralahom,  or  Minister  of  the 
Navy,  rank  next  below  the  princes  of  the  royal  family. 

The  Mandarin  Class.  Each  minister  has  under 
his  orders  a  certain  number  of  mandarins,  who  are 
divided  into  separate  corps. 

The  mandarins  are  much  more  numerous  than  is 
needed   for   the    administration    of  the  country.     They 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  165 

are    insatiable,   and  ruin,  or  impoverish  by  their  exac- 
tions, the  people,  who  are  unable  to  resist. 

The  Oath  of  the  Mandarins.  Twice  a  year,  the 
mandarins  come  to  Pnom  Penh  to  drink  the  "  water 
of  the  oath "  ;  that  is  the  form  of  the  oath  of  fealty 
to  the  King.  On  these  occasions  they  receive  presents. 
Those  who  are  absent  get  no  gifts,  and  are,  moreover, 
fined. 

The  Middle  Class.  The  middle  class  is  only  re- 
presented by  the  Chinese  and  Malay  merchants,  who 
enjoy  certain  privileges. 

Free  Men.  This  caste  of  the  people  has  liberty, 
and  nothing  else,  — when  they  are  not  obliged  to  sell 
themselves  to  pay  their  debts.  The  people  have  hardly 
any  property,  and  have  to  support  all  the  expenses 
of  the  King.  They  are  governed  by  the  mandarins, 
against  whom  there  is  no  redress.  Men  of  the  lower 
class  are  thus  obliged  to  choose  a  patron  amongst  the 
mandarins  of  Pnom  Penh.  This  custom,  which  is  named 
the  Komlang,  calls  to  mind  the  clans  of  Germany  and 
France  in  old  times. 

The  more  powerful  the  mandarin  is,  the  more  useful 
does  the  Komlang  become,  for  nothing  is  to  be  feared 
from  any  mandarin  less  powerful  than  the  one  chosen 
for  patron.  It  is  true  that  the  Komlang  comes  expen- 
sive, for  a  quarter  of  the  taxes  is  claimed  by  the  man- 
darin, who  also  requires  from  his  clients  a  whole  host 
of  small  services,  and  makes  them  escort  him  when- 
ever he  appears  in  public. 

Slavery.  Slavery  exist  in  Cambodia.  The  supply 
is   kept   up   by  man-hunting,  which  is  still  carried  on 


166  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

at  Laos,  and  concerning  which  Dr.  Harmand  has  given 
some  curious  details.  The  Cambodians  buy  their  slaves 
from  the  Laotians. 

Twins,  children  born  deformed,  hunchbacks,  herma- 
phrodites, etc.,  are  by  law  slaves  of  the  King.  The 
children  of  slaves  are  themselves  slaves,  as  in  old  Greece 
and  Rome.  Creditors  who  are  not  paid  become  the 
masters  of  their  insolvent  debtors.  These  latter  may 
be  seized,  along  with  their  wives  and  children.  They 
can,  it  is  true,  repurchase  their  liberty,  by  paying  the 
debt  and  interest,  or  they  may  change  their  master,  if 
they  can  find  a  new  master  who  will  pay  the  debt  to 
the  old  one. 

Also  all  criminals  condemned  for  rebellion  against 
the  royal  power,  or  against  the  authority  of  the  man- 
darins, become  slaves,  as  do  also  their  families.  The 
master  has  full  power  over  his  slave,  even  that  of  cor- 
poral punishment,  and  the  law  does  not  interfere,  except 
in  cases  of  serious  injury  or  death,  caused  by  excessive 
brutality.  In  the  latter  case  the  master  may  be  con- 
demned to  death.  There  is  a  curious  custom;  if  a 
master  abuses  his  female  slave,  she  recovers  her  liberty 
and  receives  compensation,  if  she  can  prove  her  case. 
In  some  respects  this  custom  resembles  the  Mosaic  law. 

Habitations.  The  Cambodian  huts,  like  those  of  the 
Annamites,  are  thatched,  and  built  on  piles  by  the  banks 
of  the  rivers.  On  account  of  inundations,  the  basket- 
work  floor  is  made  movable,  and  raised  whenever  the 
river  is  in  flood.  The  inhabitants  of  the  same  locaHty 
mutually  assist  each  other  in  case  of  fire,  or  against 
thieves  and  pirates. 

Costume.  The  Cambodian  wears  on  the  upper  part 
of  his  body  a  short  strait  vest  with  buttons,  and  covers 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  167 

the  middle  part  of  his  body  with  a  langouti,  which 
leaves  the  legs  naked  from  the  knee.  The  woman 
wears  a  langouti  like  the  man,  but  covers  it  with  a 
long  robe,  fastened  in  at  the  waist,  and  open  at  the 
breast.  She  covers  her  breasts  with  a  scarf  of  silk  or 
cotton,  according  to  her  means.  The  mandarins  wear 
silk  robes,  and  their  wives  cover  their  busts  by  wrapping 
round  them  a  long  silk  scarf  of  some  bright  colour. 
Instead  of  ear-rings,  the  Cambodian  woman  wears  in 
her  ears  small  cylinders  of  ivory,  or  even  wood.  Whilst 
she  is  a  young  girl,  she  wears  her  black,  or  dark 
chestnut,  hair  long,  but  when  once  she  is  married,  she 
wears  her  hair  like  the  man,  cut  short  and  stubby. 
This  custom,  which  is  exactly  the  reverse  of  that  of 
the  Annamites,  with  whom  the  chignon  is  common  to 
both  sexes,  gives  the  Cambodian  woman,  a  harsh,  unfem- 
inine  appearance. 

Food.  The  food  of  the  Cambodian  is  similar  to 
that  of  the  Annamite.  Rice,  in  place  of  bread,  pork — 
fresh,  dry,  or  salted — vegetables  and  fruit,  form  his 
chief  nutriment;  his  food  is  also  strongly  spiced. 
Water,  clarified  with  a  little  alum,  forms  the  chief  bever- 
age. Tea  is  not  in  such  general  use  as  amongst  the 
people  of  the  more  southern  country.  A  spirit  made 
from  rice,  called  sra,  is  drunk,  but  much  more  moder- 
ately in  Cambodia  than  in  Annam. 

Opium  is  smoked  by  the  rich.  A  mixture  of  Indian 
hemp  and  tobacco,  called  Kanehka,  which  produces 
an  effect  analogous  to  that  of  opium,  is  also  used. 

Moral  Characteristics  of  the  Cambodians.     The 

people  are  mild-tempered,  indolent,  and  very  fond  of 
amusement.     They  are  passionately  fond  of  boat  races, 


168  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

which  are  often  made  the  subject  of  heavy  bets,  games 
of  ball,  bowls,  and  kite-flying  ;  they  also  make  crickets 
fight  till  they  tear  off  each  other's  legs,  or  head ;  they 
bet  upon  these  insects  like  the  English  used  to  do  on 
game  cocks. 

Strange  Custom  used  when  Animals  are  gelded. 

"When  a  Cambodian  has  a  buffalo,  or  domestic  ox, 
gelded,  he  makes  the  operation,  says  Pavie,  the  occa- 
sion of  a  certain  solemnity.  The  master  informs  the 
animal  of  his  intention  in  phrases  something  like  this. 
"  It  is  not  from  any  whim,  or  private  pleasure  of  my 
own,  that  you  have  to  suffer  this  disagreable  operation. 
It  was  the  custom  of  my  ancestors,  and  you  ought 
not  therefore  to  bear  me  any  ill-will,  either  in  this 
life,  or  in  any  future  life." 

Westmarck  says: 

"  A  like  respect  is  testified  for  other  dangerous 
animals  by  the  hunters  who  regularly  trap  and  kill 
them.  When  Kafir  hunters  are  in  the  act  of  shower- 
ing spears  on  an  elephant,  they  call  out,  "  Don't  kill 
us,  great  captain ;  don't  strike  or  tread  upon  us,  mighty 
chief."  *  When  he  is  dead  they  make  their  excuses 
to  him,  pretending  that  his  death  was  a  pure  accident. 
As  a  mark  of  respect  they  bury  his  trunk  with  much 
solemn  ceremony ;  for  they  says  that :  "  The  elephant 
is  a  great  lord ;  his  trunk  is  his  hand. "  ^ 

Amongst  some  tribes  of  Eastern  Africa,  when  a 
lion    is    killed,  the  carcass  is  brought  before  the  king, 

'  Stephen  Kay,  Travels  and  Researches  in  Caffraria  (London, 
1833),  p.    138. 

'  Alberti,  De  Kaffers  nan  de  Zuidkiist  van  A/rika  (Amsterdam 
1 8 10,  p.  95).  Alberti's  information  is  repeated  by  Lichtenstein  {Reisen 
im  sudluhen  Afrika,  i.  412),  and  by  Rose  [Four  years  in  Southern 
Africa,  p.    155).     The  burial  of  the  trunk  is  also  mentioned  by  Kay,  1.  c. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  169 

who  does  homage  to  it  by  prostrating  himself  on  the 
ground  and  rubbing  his  face  on  the  muzzle  of  the 
beast.  ^  In  some  parts  of  Western  Africa,  if  a  negro 
kills  a  leopard  he  is  bound  fast  and  brought  before  the 
chiefs  for  having  killed  one  of  their  peers.  The  man 
defends  himself  on  the  plea  that  the  leopard  is  chief 
of  the  forest,  and  therefore  a  stranger.  He  is  then  set 
at  liberty  and  rewarded.  But  the  dead  leopard,  adorned 
with  a  chief's  bonnet,  is  set  up  in  the  village,  where 
nightly  dances  are  held  in  its  honour.  ^ 

"  Before  leaving  a  temporary  camp  in  the  forest, 
where  they  have  killed  a  tapir  and  dried  the  meat  on 
a  babracot,  Indians  (of  Guiana)  invariably  destroy  this 
babracot,  saying  that  should  a  tapir  passing  that  way 
find  traces  of  the  slaughter  of  one  of  his  kind,  he 
would  come  by  night  on  the  next  occasion  when 
Indians  slept  at  that  place,  and,  taking  a  man,  would 
babracot  him  in  revenge."^ 

Alaskan  hunters  preserve  the  bones  of  sables  and 
beavers  out  of  reach  of  the  dogs  for  a  year  and  then 
bury  them  carefully,  "  lest  the  spirits  who  look  after 
the  beavers  and  sables  should  consider  that  they  are 
regarded  with  contempt,  and  hence  no  more  should 
be  killed  or  trapped.""*  The  Canadian  Indians  were 
equally  particular  not  to  let  their  dogs  gnaw  the  bones, 
or  at  least  certain  of  the  bones,  of  beavers.  They 
took  the  greatest  pains  to  collect  and  preserve  these 
bones  and,  when  the  beaver  had  been  caught  in  a 
net,  they  threw  them  into  the  river.     To  a  Jesuit  who 

'  Jerome  Becker,  La  Vie  en  Afriqii,-.  (Paris  and  Brussels,  1887), 
ii.   298  sq.   305. 

*  Bastian,    Die   detitsche   Expedition    an  der  Loango-Kilste.   ii,   243. 
'   Im   Thurn,  Among  the  Indians  of  liiiiana,   p.   352. 

*  W.  Dall,  Alaska  and  its  Resources.  \).   89. 


170  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

argued  that  the  beavers  could  not  possibly  know  what 
became  of  their  bones,  the  Indians  repHed,  "  You  know 
nothing  about  catching  beavers  and  yet  you  will  be 
talking  about  it.  Before  the  beaver  is  stone  dead,  his 
soul  takes  a  turn  in  the  hut  of  the  man,  who  is  kill- 
ing him  and  makes  a  careful  note  of  what  is  done 
with  his  bones.  If  the  bones  are  given  to  the  dogs, 
the  other  beavers  would  get  w^ord  of  it  and  would  not 
let  themselves  be  caught.  Whereas,  if  their  bones 
are  thrown  into  the  fire  or  a  river,  they  are  quite 
satisfied;  and  it  is  particularly  gratifying  to  the  net 
which  caught  them."  ^  Before  hunting  the  beaver 
they  offered  a  solemn  prayer  to  the  Great  Beaver,  and 
presented  him  with  tobacco ;  and  when  the  chase  was 
over,  an  orator  pronounced  a  funeral  oration  over  the 
dead  beavers.  He  praised  their  spirit  and  wisdom. 
"You  will  hear  no  more,"  said  he,  "the  voice  of  the 
chieftains  who  commanded  you  and  whom  you  chose 
from  among  all  the  warrior  beavers  to  give  you  laws. 
Your  language,  which  the  m.edicine  men  understand 
perfectly,  will  be  heard  no  more  at  the  bottom  of  the 
lake.  You  will  fight  no  more  battles  with  the  otters, 
your  cruel  foes.  No,  beavers!  But  your  skins  shall 
serve  to  buy  arms;  we  will  carry  your  smoked  hams 
to  your  children ;  we  will  keep  the  dogs  from  eating 
your  bones,  which  are  so  hard.  ^ 

'  Relatio7is  des  Je'suites,  1634,  p.  24,  ed.  1858.  Nets  are  regarded 
by  the  Indians  as  living  creatures  who  not  only  think  and  feel  but  also 
eat,  speak,  and  marry  wives.  Lagard,  Le  Grand  Voyage  du  Pays  des 
Hurons.  p.  256.  (p.  178  sq.  of  the  Paris  reprint,  Librairie  Tross,  1865). 
S.  Hearne,  yb?<r«fv  to  the  Northern  Ocean,  p.  329  sg.;  Relation  des 
Jesnites.    16,   36,  p.    109;   ib ;    1639,   p.   95. 

Charlevoix,  Histoire  de  la  Notivelle  France,  p.  225  ;  Chateaubriand, 
Voyage  en  Amc'rtqiie,   p.    140,  sq. 

'  Chateaubriand,    Voyaye  en  Amcriqne,  pp.    175,   178.     They  will  not 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  171 

Food  is  prepared,  also  a  bottle  of  sra,  a  gourd,  a 
fine  fat  cock,  and  some  pieces  of  the  trunk  of  a  banana 
tree,  to  which  are  attached  areca  nuts  and  betel. 
After  an  invocation  to  the  prah  pisnoukar,  or  Genius, 
of  Industry  and  Commerce,  the  gelder  performs  the 
operation,  and  receives  as  his  reward  the  sra,  the 
cock,  and  the  gourd. 

Bravery  of  the  Cambodians.  The  Cambodian  is 
courageous,  and  uses  with  effect  the  few  worthless 
guns,  with  no  butts,  which  he  possesses,  and  sticks 
of  hard  wood,  of  from  eight  to  ten  feet  in  length, 
which  in  his  hands,  become  terrible  weapons.  He 
does  not  fear  death.  With  nothing  but  these  primitive 
arms  he  opposed,  in  1866,  our  rifled  guns,  and  in 
1885-86,  the  Gras  rifle  of  the  French  and  Annamite 
sharpshooters.  If  he  has  been  conquered  by  the  An- 
namite it  is  because, — though  more  vigorous  and  quite 
as  brave  as  the  latter, — the  military  organization  is 
not  so  perfect. 

Hunting   the    Elephant  and   Rhinoceros.     The 

Cambodian  hunters,  armed  with  wretched  flintlock,  or 
matchlock,  guns,  or  even  with  nothing  but  sticks,  hunt 
the  elephants,  rhinoceroses,  wild  boars,  and  wild  bulls, 
which  abound  in  the  forests  of  Cambodia.  Elephant 
hunting  is  very  dangerous  work:  the  animal  is  shot 
with  a  poisoned  arrow  fired  out  of  a  gun. 

"To  hunt  the  rhinoceros  requires  great  courage," 
says  M.  Moura,  a  former  resident  in  Cambodia.  "  Four 
or  five  skilful  hunters  meet  together,  armed  with  long 

let  the  blood  of  beavers  fall  on  the  ground,  or  their  Kick  in  hunting 
them  would  be  gone. 

Relations    des  Je'suites,    1633    p.    21.     Compare    the    rule  about    not 

allowing  the  blood  of  kings  to  fall  on  the  ground,  vol.  i,  p.  179  sq. 


172  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

bamboos  hardened  in  the  fire.  They  discover  the  trail 
of  the  rhinoceros,  and  when  they  perceive  the  animal, 
advance  towards  it.  When  the  rhinoceros  sees  the 
hunters  close  to  its  lair,  it  charges  open-mouthed,  and 
the  men  push  the  long  bamboos,  with  which  they  are 
armed,  deep  down  its  throat.  Having  done  this  the 
hunters  bolt,  and  climb  up  trees,  and  the  wounded 
animal  soon  falls  exhausted  from  loss  of  blood.  Then 
the  hunters  come  down,  and  finish  it" 

It  must  be  acknowledged,  that  only  men  who  are 
really  brave  would  dare  to  attack  a  rhinoceros  with 
no  better  weapons  than  bamboo  sticks  hardened  in  the 
fire. 

Religion.  The  religion  of  the  Cambodians  is  Bud- 
dhism, but  disfigured  by  numerous  superstitions  foreign 
to  the  doctrine  of  the  founder,  Cakya  Mouui,  and  more 
especially  by  the  worship  of  ancestors  a  form  common 
to  all  the  people  of  China,  and  Indo-China. 

Mr.  Edward  Tylor,  in  his  fascinating  work  devotes 
many  pages  to  this  interesting  subject.  ^  The  follow- 
ing illustrates,  in  a  special  manner,  the  remarks  we 
have  made,  and  although  the  passage  is  somewhat 
long,  we  take  leave  to  quote  it,  on  account  of  its 
importauce : 

"  It  is  quite  usual  for  savage  tribes  to  live  in 
terror  of  the  souls  of  the  dead  as  harmful  spirits. 
Thus  Australians  have  been  known  to  consider  the 
ghosts  of  the  unburied  dead  as  becoming  malignant 
demons.  New  Zealanders  have  supposed  the  souls  of 
their    dead   to  become  so  changed  in  nature  as  to  be 

*  Primitive  Culture :  Researches  into  the  Development  of  Mytholog)', 
Philosophy,  Religion,  Language,  Art  and  Custom,  by  Edward  Tylor, 
D.C.L.,  etc. ;  Reader  in  Anthropology  in  the  University  of  Oxford 
(2  vols — 3rd  edit.  London,   1891). 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  173 

malignant  to  their  nearest  and  dearest  friends  in  lite ; 
the  Caribs  said  that,  of  man's  various  souls,  some  go 
to  the  seashore  and  capsize  boats,  others  to  the  forests 
to  be  evil  spirits :  among  the  Sioux  Indians  the  fear 
of  the  ghost's  vengeance  has  been  found  to  act  as  a 
check  on  murder;  of  some  tribes  in  Central  Africa  it 
may  be  said  that  their  main  religious  doctrine  is  the 
belief  in  ghosts,  and  that  the  main  characteristic  of 
these  ghosts  is  to  do  harm  to  the  living.  The  Pata- 
gonians  lived  in  terror  of  the  souls  of  their  wizards, 
which  become  evil  demons  after  death ;  Turanian  tribes 
of  North  Asia  fear  their  shamans  even  more  when 
dead  than  when  alive,  for  they  become  a  special  class 
of  spirits  who  are  the  hurtfullest  in  all  nature,  and 
who  among  the  Mongols  plague  the  living  on  purpose 
to  make  them  bring  offerings.  In  China  it  is  held 
that  the  multitudes  of  wretched  destitute  spirits  in  the 
world  below,  such  as  souls  of  lepers  and  beggars,  can 
sorely  annoy  the  living ;  therefore  at  certain  times  they 
are  to  be  appeased  with  offerings  of  food,  scant  and 
beggarly;  and  a  man  who  feels  unwell,  or  fears  a 
mishap  in  business,  will  prudently  have  some  mock- 
clothing  and  mock-money  burnt  for  these  'gentlemen 
of  the  lower  regions '. 

"  Notions  of  this  sort  are  widely  prevalent  in  Indo- 
China  and  India;  whole  orders  of  demons  there  w'ere 
formerly  human  souls,  especially  of  people  left  unburied 
or  slain  by  plague  or  violence,  of  bachelors  or  of 
women  who  died  in  childbirth,  and  who  henceforth 
wreak  their  vengeance  on  the  living.  They  may,  how- 
ever, be  propitiated  by  temples  and  offerings,  and  thus 
have  become  in  fact  a  regular  class  of  local  deities. 
Among  them  may  be  counted  the  diabolic  soul  of  a 
certain  wicked  British  officer,  whom  native  worshippers 


174  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF 

in  the  Tinnevelly  district  still  propitiate  by  offering  at 
his    grave   the   brandy  and  cheroots   he  loved  in  life. 

"  India  even  carries  theory  into  practice  by  an  actual 
manufacture  of  demons,  as  witness  the  two  following 
accounts.  A  certain  brahman,  on  whose  lands  a 
kshatriya  raja  had  built  a  house,  ripped  himself  up  in 
revenge,  and  became  a  demon  of  the  kind  called 
brahmadasyu,  who  has  been  ever  since  the  terror  of 
the  whole  country,  and  is  the  most  common  village 
deity  in  Kharakpur.  Toward  the  close  of  the  last 
century  there  were  two  brahmans,  out  of  whose  house 
a  man  had  wrongfully,  as  they  thought,  taken  forty 
rupees;  whereupon  one  of  the  brahmans  proceeded  to 
cut  off  his  own  mother's  head,  with  the  professed  view, 
entertained  by  both  mother  and  son,  that  her  spirit, 
excited  by  the  beating  of  a  large  drum  during  forty 
days,  might  haunt,  torment,  and  pursue  to  death  the 
taker  of  their  money  and  those  concerned  with  him. 
Declaring  with  her  last  words  that  she  would  blast 
the  thief,  the  spiteful  hag  deliberately  gave  up  her 
life  to  take  ghostly  vengeance  for  those  forty  rupees. 
By  instances  like  these  it  appears  that  we  may  trace 
up  from  the  psychology  of  the  lower  races,  the  familiar 
ancient  and  modern  European  tales  of  baleful  ghost- 
demons.  The  old  fear  even  now  continues  to  vouch 
for  the  old  belief 

"  Happily  for  man's  anticipation  of  death,  and  for  the 
treatment  of  the  sick  and  aged, .  thoughts  of  horror 
and  hatred  do  not  preponderate  in  ideas  of  deified 
ancestors,  who  are  regarded  on  the  whole  as  kindly 
patron  spirits,  at  least  to  their  own  kinsfolk  and 
worshippers." 

Brahminism  has  also  left  many  traces  on  the  religion 
of  Cambodia. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  175 

Sir  John  Bowring  who  was  governor  of  Hong  Kong 
and  personally  visited  Siam  and  the  adjacent  countries, 
has  some  pertinent  observations  regarding  the  princi- 
ples  underlying   the  Religious  practices  of  these  peo 
pies:  ^ 

"  The  Buddhist,  whose  contemplations  lead  their 
thoughts  into  calculations  of  infinite  ages,  as  connected 
with  the  incarnations  of  the  Divinity,*  have  sought  to 
convey  notions  of  eternity  by  images  in  which  the 
fancy  is  made  the  handmaid  to  speculations  the  most 
adventurous.  For  example,  they  teach  that,  in  order 
to  estimate  the  ages  needful  for  all  the  transmigra- 
tions which  are  preliminary  to  the  creation  of  a  Buddha, 
you  are  to  fancy  a  granite  rock  of  enormous  extent, 
which  is  to  be  visited  once  in  a  hundred  thousand  years 
by  a  celestial  spirit  clad  in  light  muslin  robes,  which 
should  just  touch  the  rock  in  flitting  by;  and  that 
until  by  the  touch  of  the  garment,  which  must  remove 
an  infinitesimal  and  invisible  fragment  of  the  stone, 
the  whole  stone  should  be  reduced  in  successive  visit- 
ations to  the  size  of  a  grain  of  sand,  the  period  of 
transmigrations  of  a  Buddha  would  not  be  completed. 
Again,  the  priests  say,  so  many  must  have  been  those 
transmigrations,  that  there  is  no  spot  on  earth  or  ocean 
which  you  can  touch  with  the  point  of  a  needle  where 
Buddha  has  not  been  buried  in  some  form  or  other 
during  the  incalculable  period  of  his  transitions  from  one 
to  another  mode  of  existence.  So,  the  descent  into 
one  of  the  lesser  hells  of  Buddhism  is  said  to  occupy  three 
thousand    years,    and    the    same    period    is  required  to 

'  See  ^  The  Kingdovi  and  People  of  Siam;  with  a  narrative  of  a 
mission  to  tliat  country  in  1855  (2  vols)  London,  1857.  Sir  John  was 
a  clever  linguist,  and  a  man  of  wide  and  comprehensive  study.  It  will 
be  remembered  that  he  occupied  the  post  of  pienipoleniiarj-  in  China. 


176  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF 

mount  again  from  its  abyss, — this  being  the  penalty 
of  a  minor  offence;  the  greater  crimes  demand  a  pro- 
portionate era  for  their  purgation  or  punishment. 

As  regard  the  ultimate  disposal  of  man  after  he  has 
passed  through  his  various  transmigrations,  and  reaches 
a  state  of  Nirvani  (Pali)  or  Nishvan,  there  seems  no 
small  variety  of  opinion  as  to  what  is  to  be  understood 
by  that  state  of  anticipated  blessedness,  which  some 
call  annihilation  or  extinction,  others  repose,  others 
complacency,  and  some  infinite  felicity,  be  that  felicity 
what  it  may.  But  it  is  given  to  none  to  penetrate 
into  the  darkness  beyond  the  grave ;  "  it  doth  not  yet 
appear  what  we  shall  be;"  "eye  hath  not  seen  nor  ear 
heard"  the  pleasures  in  store  for  the  virtuous:  and  if 
we,  to  whom  so  much  has  been  revealed,  but  from 
whom  so  much  more  has  been  concealed,  are  but  wan- 
derers in  mists  and  clouds  when  we  follow  the  dead 
into  the  regions  unexplored,  we  ought  not  to  wonder 
that  others  less  enhghtened,  less  instructed,  should  be 
more  at  a  loss  than  ourselves. 

To  be  entirely  disconnected  from  the  world  is  repre- 
sented to  be  the  most  exalted  stage  of  mortal  virtue: 
so,  one  of  the  highest  acts  of  merit,  and  which  more 
than  any  advances  the  devotee  towards  final  absorp- 
tion (Nirvana),  is  the  sale  of  all  his  property,  and  his 
own  person,  and  the  dedication  of  the  proceeds  to  acts 
of  charity.  Several  instances  of  such  self-sacrifice  are 
recorded  in  the  Pali  writings. 

In  the  teachings  of  ancient  sages  who  have  become 
the  honoured  among  nations,  there  will  be  found  much 
more  of  resemblance  and  affinity  than  would  be  anti- 
cipated, from  the  exercise  of  independent  thought  ema- 
nating from  the  minds  of  men  placed  in  situations 
extremely  remote  from  and  unlike  one  another.     The 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  177 

Book  of  Job  contains  much  of  Platonic  wisdom,  and 
the  words  of  Confucius  and  Gaudama  might  well  have 
fallen  from  many  a  Western  philosopher. 

"Attach  not  yourself,"  says  Gaudama,  "  to  the  pleas- 
ures of  this  world;  they  will  fly  from  you  in  spite  of 
yourself  Nothing  in  the  universe  is  really  your  own. 
You  cannot  preserve  it  unchanged,  for  even  its  form 
is  perpetually  varying."  "  Be  not  the  slave  of  love  or 
hatred,  but  learn  insensibility  to  the  vicissitudes  of  life ; 
be  indifferent  to  praise  and  blame,  to  rewards  and 
persecutions.  Endure  hunger  and  thirst,  privations, 
diseases,  and  even  death,  with  the  tranquillity  of  an 
imperturbable  spirit." 

The  Bonze.  ^  The  bonze  is  called  the  lord  priest 
{luc  sang).  Priesthood  is  rather  a  temporary  function, 
than, — as  in  the  Indian  priest — an  ineradicable  qualifi- 
cation, for,  in  Cambodia,  the  bonze  may  quit  the  reli- 
gious order  at  any  time.  A  slave  may  even  become 
a  bonze,  and  in  that  case  he  regains  his  liberty.  The 
vows  taken  by  the  bonze  not  being  necessarily  for  life, 
young  mandarins  who  aspire  to  public  offices,  and  even 
the  princes  of  the  royal  blood,  pass  a  year  in  holy 
orders.  The  somdach-Prf^a-sang-Creach,  or  head  of  the 
religious  orders,  is  a  very  high  personage,  and  is  equal 
to  the  King,  as  the  Pope  is  to  European  monarchs. 
The  bonzes  are  independent  of  the  mandarins,  and  are 

'  It  may  interest  readers  to  learn  that  "bonze"  is  given  in  the  1897 
edit,  of  OgiJvie's  "  Imperial  Dictionary "  as  a  corruption  of  the  Japan- 
ese word  busso,  u  a  pious  man."  It  is  European  for  a  priest  of  the 
religion  of  Fo  or  Buddha  in  Eastern  Asia,  particularly  in  China,  Burmah, 
Tonquin,  Cochin-China  and  Japan.  The  state  monastic  of  celibacy  in 
which  they  live  approximates  them  to  the  monks  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church.  There  are  also  female  bonzes,  whose  position  is  analogous  lo 
that  of  nuns  in  Europe. 


178  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

only  amenable  to  a  Council  of  Discipline,  consisting 
of  the  King,  the  King  who  has  abdicated,  the  "  second 
King",  and  the  Queen  Mother.  The  composition  of 
this  Council  will  suffice  to  show  what  a  high  position 
the  bonze  holds  in  Cambodian  society. 

Notwithstanding  all  the  precepts  which  are  supposed 
to  be  protective  of  personal  purity,  the  paintings  seen 
in  the  Buddhist  temples  are  often  of  a  licentious  and 
libidinous  character. 

The  persons  and  property  of  the  priesthood  are 
removed  from  the  general  action  of  the  law.  There 
is  a  sort  of  ecclesiastical  court,  presided  over  by  a 
bonze  of  high  rank,  in  which  the  sacred  code,  written 
in  the  Pali  language,  constitutes  the  rule  of  judgment, 
in  precisely  the  same  way  as  the  text  of  the  Koran 
becomes  the  paramount  law  in  the  Superior  courts  of 
the  Mussulmans.  Within  certain  limits,  a  priest  may 
both  inherit  and  bequeath  property ;  but  its  possession 
does  not  emancipate  him  from  those  privations  to 
which  he  is  condemned  by  his  religious  vows.  In 
case  of  intestacy,  the  propeicy  falls  to  the  convent  of 
which  the  bonze  was  an  inmate. 

A  priest  is  not  allowed  to  take  an  oath.  His  affirm- 
ative answer  to  a  question  is  received  when  he  raises 
his  fan ;  his  negative  is  conveyed  by  letting  the  fan  drop. 

As  the  priesthood,  as  an  institution,  is  more  dove- 
tailed into  the  social  system  than  in  any  part  of  the 
world,  no  jealousy  seems  created  by  its  laziness,  no 
resistance  is  exhibited  to  its  claims.  It  is  supported 
by  the  spontaneous  offerings  of  the  whole  people,  in 
whose  minds  merit  and  its  recompenses  are  constantly 
associated  with  reverence  for  the  functions  of  the 
servitors  of  Buddha,  the  depositaries  cf  his  will  and 
the    expounders    of  his  teachings.     Among  the  priests 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  179 

will  be  found  some  subtle  polemics,  who  are  by  no 
means  unwilling  to  enter  the  fields  of  controversy. 
The  Mohamedans  aver  that  a  few  of  the  priesthood 
have  recognized  the  authority  of  the  Prophet,  but  the 
cases  must  be  very  rare. 

The  police  to  which  the  Phra  are  subjected  is 
superintended  by  one  of  the  princes,  who  has  a  number 
of  commissaries,  who  are  authorized  to  bring  them  up 
for  judgment.  On  the  proof  of  their  delinquencies, 
they  are  unfrocked,  flogged  with  the  rattan,  or  con- 
demned to  prison,  or  other  penalties,  according  to  the 
gravity  of  their  offences. 

The  Life  of  the  Bonze.  He  perfoms  no  manual 
labour,  and,  beyond  attending  the  classes  in  Buddhist 
theology,  for  the  instruction  of  aspirants  to  religious 
orders,  does  not  do  anything  but  collect  alms.  With 
his  head  completely  shaved,  and  clad  in  a  costume  of 
yellow  cotton  ornamented  with  embroidery,  this  pious 
do-nothing  wanders  through  the  villages  and  towns, 
from  daybreak  till  noon,  begging  rice,  fish,  fruit,  to- 
bacco, and  betel,  all  of  which  he  jumbles  together  in 
a  sanctified  tin  saucepan,  which  he  carries  under  his 
arm.  At  eight  o'clock,  and  at  noon,  he  takes  his 
meals  in  the  convents,  but,  if  he  observe  the  rules,  he 
ought  to  fast  all  the  evening.  They  are  but  poorly 
instructed;  they  must  mutually  confess  their  sins  to 
each  other  once  a  fortnight. 

The  principal  commandments  they  have  to  keep, 
are,  according  to  M.  Moura  :  ist,  to  kill  nothing  that 
has  fife,  not  even  lice  or  fleas;  2nd,  not  to  steal;  3rd, 
not  to  marry,  or  commit  fornication;  4th,  not  to  tell 
lies;  5th,  to  fast  after  noon;  6th,  not  to  get  drunk; 
7th,    not  to  sing  or  dance;  8th,  to  dress  plainly;  9th, 


180  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS  OF 

not  to  sit  nor  lie  in  any  place  that  is  high  {stc);  loth, 
not  to  possess  gold  or  silver. 

Noro-dom*s  White  Elephant.  The  Cambodian, 
like  the  Siamese,  holds  the  white  elephant  in  great 
veneration.  Former  kings  were  obliged,  as  a  mark 
of  their  vassalage,  to  send  to  Siam  all  animals  of  this 
description  captured  in  Cambodia,  but  the  French 
protectorate  put  a  stop  to  this  custom.  In  1867,  I 
saw  at  Pnom-Penh,  a  white  elephant  which  belonged 
to  Noro-dom. 

It  will  be  remarked  that  the  Kings  of  Cambodia, 
like  the  old  Hebrew  Kings,  though  the  absolute  heads 
of  civil  government,  have  no  religious  power,  and  are 
confronted  by  a  powerful  theocracy. 

Creeds  and  Beliefs  in  Cambodia.  The  Cambo- 
dians attach  great  importance  to  the  alms  which  they 
give  to  the  bonzes,  and  they  also  often  undertake  the 
construction  of  a  pagoda  at  their  own  expense.  Acts 
like  these,  they  believe,  receive  their  reward  in  a 
future  life,  and  hasten  "the  eternal  annihilation",  or 
Nirvana.  They  admit  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and 
metempsychosis  is  a  belief  sanctioned  by  their  moral 
law.  There  is  a  great  difference  between  the  Cam- 
bodian, who  is  a  pious  believer,  and  the  Annamite, 
who  is  a  doubter  and  a  materialist.  Like  the  Anna- 
mite, however,  the  Cambodian  beHeves  in  genii,  devils 
or  demons,  and  ghosts.  These  last  can  be  driven 
away  by  the  aiac  (the  spirit  of  some  old  dead  friend), 
the  protector  of  the  family,  who  is  worshipped  as  such, 
and  to  whose  shade  the  flowers  of  the  frangipanni  are 
offered.  He  is  invoked  through  the  agency  of  old 
witches,  who  make  incantations,  and  have  prophetic 
inspirations  like  the  sibyl  of  Cumea. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  181 

Religious  Festivals  are  very  numerous  amongst 
the  Kmers.  The  principal  is  the  Col  Chnam,  the  first 
day  of  the  year,  similar  to  the  Annamite  Tet,  which 
is  celebrated,  as  in  Annam,  by  sacrifices  and  public 
rejoicings.  The  religious  and  believing  Cambodian 
also  gives  offerings  to  the  bonzes.  In  famihes,  the 
children  offer  their  parents  the  water  of  purification, 
as  the  Romans  did,  and  slaves  wash  the  bodies  of 
their  master.  There  is  a  holiday,  called  the  thfigay- 
sel,  at  each  change  of  the  moon ;  those  of  the  new 
and  full  moon  are  the  most  solemn. 

Fete  days  are  celebrated  by  visits  to  the  pagodas, 
and  offerings  to  the  bonzes.  As  may  be  imagined, 
these  latter  do  not  let  themselves  be  forgotten. 

The  bonzes  celebrate  with  great  pomp,  in  their 
pagodas,  the  full  moon  in  the  month  of  May,  the 
anniversary  of  the  death  of  Buddha.  Families  give 
feasts  on  this  occasion,  and  at  these  the  bonzes  occupy 
the  seats  of  honour. 

In  February  also,  the  bonzes  walk  in  procession  through 
the  fields, — a  ceremony  samewhat  akin  to  the  CathoHc 
"  rogations",— and  call  down  the  blessings  of  heaven 
on  the  fruits  of  the  earth.  The  farmers  and  labourers 
then  provide  copious  repasts  for  the  worthy  bonzes. 

The  bonzes  also  keep,  in  the  rainy  season,  a  kind 
of  Lent,  called  Prasa,  in  memory  of  the  day  of  rest 
of  Cakya  Mouni,  who  devoted  this  season  to  giving 
religious  instruction  to  his  disciples.  In  each  pagoda, 
a  huge  candle,  called  the  Ticn-Prasa,  is  kept  constantly 
burning,  like  the  Easter  candles  in  the  Catholic  churches. 

Family  Festivals.  At  the  beginning  of  the  Prasa, 
every  family  offers  a  sacrifice  to  its  ancestors,  but  in 
this  ceremony  the  bonzes  do  not  participate.     Besides 


182  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF 

this  worship  of  ancestors,  the  Kmers  render  homage 
to  the  Neac-ta,  which,  like  the  genii  of  the  Annam- 
ites,  are  their  household  gods.  These  divinities  are 
entrusted  by  the  god  Indra  (Prea  la)  with  the  care 
of  villages,  houses,  etc.  Their  aid  is  invoked  in  case 
of  epidemic  diseases,  and  great  public  calamities. 

Superstitions.  I  have  already  said  that  the  Kmer 
is  very  superstitious.  Their  doctors  are  crassly 
ignorant  of  medical  science,  and,  from  that  very  fact, 
each  doctor  is  a  sorcerer,  and  practises  the  counterpart 
of  those  magical  spells  so  well-known  to  our  ancestors 
in  the  Middle  Ages.  The  doctor  {cru)  makes  a  clay 
figure,  and  buries  it  in  some  distant  spot.  Then  he 
orders  the  demon,  who  is  the  cause  of  the  disease, 
to  leave  the  body  of  the  patient,  and  pass  into  the 
clay  figure.  The  screech-owl,  and  other  night-birds, 
are  reputed  to  bring  ill-luck.  The  credulous  Kmer 
has  faith  in  talismans  that  are  to  render  him  invulner- 
able to  bullets,  make  an  enemy's  gun  miss  fire,  or 
drive  away  ghosts.  There  are  even  some  charms  which 
were  to  make  wings  grow,  and  waft  the  happy  pos- 
sessor up  to  heaven.  I  was  gravely  assured,  however, 
that  the  art  of  weaving  this  particular  spell  had  been 
unhappily  lost.  But,  as  there  can  be  concocted  from 
the  tusks  and  whiskers  of  a  tiger,  a  charm,  which  it 
is  asserted, — for  I  have  never  tried  it, — will  act  as  a 
deadly  poison,  it  seems  a  pity  that  such  a  beneficent 
invention  as  a  talisman  which  would  cause  wings  to 
sprout,  should  not  have  been  also  preserved. 

The  Kmers  also  believe  in  auguries  and  dreams, 
and  even  go  to  the  cemeteries  to  sleep  upon  the  graves 
of  dead  friends,  in  the  belief  that  their  dreams  will  be 
inspired  by  the  spirits  of  the  departed. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  183 

The  Festival  of  the  Dead  takes  place  on  the  last 
day  of  the  September  moon,  and  is  called  the  pchtim 
ben.  Crowds  of  people  assemble  together  in  the  pago- 
das, and  bring  with  them  quantities  of  food  of  all  sorts, 
for  the  dead,  who,  on  this  day,  have  Buddha's  permis- 
sion to  leave  hell. 

It  may  be  remarked,  that  this  belief  in  hell  is  com- 
mon to  Buddhism,  and  to  many  other  religions  which 
have  borrowed  the  same  idea.  According  to  M.  Moura, 
from  whom  I  have  already  quoted,  the  dead  are,  as 
may  indeed  be  supposed,  invisible,  and  the  festival 
lasts  three  days.  On  the  third  day,  the  bonzes  send 
away  the  spirits  of  the  departed,  with  these  words : 
"  Depart  to  the  land  and  to  the  fields  where  you  reside ; 
to  the  mountains,  and  beneath  the  stones  which  serve 
you  for  houses.  Go !  return !  In  this  month,  in  all 
future  years,  your  sons  and  grandsons  will  remember 
you,  and  you  will  return  to  them." 

The  Festivals  of  the  Cat-sac,  and  the  Blessing: 

of  the  Waters.  The  Kmers  also  keep  two  other 
festivals,  which  are  probably  remnants  of  Brahminism : 
first,  the  Cat-sac,  when  the  top-knot  of  children  of 
from  eleven  to  thirteen  years  of  age  is  cut,  when 
family  feasts  are  held,  and  the  bonze  is  called  upon 
to  give  his  blessing,  and,  second,  the  Blessing  of  the 
Waters,  the  occasion  of  a  long  religious  ceremony  on 
the  part  of  the  bonzes. 

There  is  still  in  Cambodia  a  special  caste,  called 
Bakou,  who  pretend  to  be  descendants  of  the  old 
Brahmins,  some  of  whose  customs  they  still  retain. 
They  enjoy  the  prerogative  of  guarding  the  royal 
sword,  wear  their  hair  long,  and  are  free  from  taxes, 
and  compulsory  labour. 


184  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

Human  Sacrifices.  The  terrible  custom  of  oifer- 
ing  to  the  divinity,  as  an  expiatory  sacrifice,  human 
beings,  was  continued  almost  until  our  own  days. 
Only  criminals  condemned  to  death  are  now  sacrificed ; 
they  are  executed  under  the  protecting  tree  of  the 
province,  so  that  the  punishment  of  a  malefactor  becomes 
a  sacrifice  to  the  tutelary  genii.  This  custom  is  similar 
to  that  of  the  ancient  Gauls  and  Britons,  who  used  to 
put  to  death  condemned  criminals,  when  the  Druids 
ordered  human  sacrifices  to  be  made;  but  our  ancestors 
used  to  offer  themselves  voluntarily,  if  no  criminals 
were  forthcoming. 

Cambodian  Legislation  and  Justice.  The  Cam- 
bodian code  is  very  severe  on  unfortunate  culprits, 
who  are  divided  into  five  classes,  according  to  the 
importance  of  their  crimes;  the  first  class  comprises 
treason  against  the  State,  or  the  King,  or  sacrilegious 
offences  concerning  the  bonzes,  or  the  religion.  This 
calls  to  mind  the  edict  of  St.  Louis,  King  of  France, 
ordaining  that  blasphemers  should  have  their  tongue 
burned  with  a  hot  iron. 

For  punishing  criminals,  there  are  twenty-one  methods 
of  execution,  all  of  horrible  cruelty.  Amongst  them, 
I  may  mention,  burning  alive  (as  in  the  ]\Iiddle  Ages), 
the  wheel,  being  cast  to  wild  beasts,  flogging,  etc., 
which  are  exclusively  reserved  for  criminals  of  the 
first  category. 

For  the  four  remaining  classes,  there  are  chains, 
imprisonment,  fines,  confiscation  of  property,  and  the 
punishment  of  slavery  for  the  guilty  person  and  all 
his  family. 

This  atrocious  code  was  applied  without  any  sort  of 
impartiahty,  for  it  included  an  article  by  which  in  the 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  185 

case  of  a  fine  being  imposed,  the  King  took  one  third 
of  the  sum,  the  judges  who  pronounced  the  sentence 
took  another  third,  and  the  remaining  third  went  to 
the  complainant. 

Causes  of  the  Decay  of  the  Kmer  ^  Race.     We 

must  search  for  the  secret  of  the  decadence  of  the 
once  famous  Kingdom  of  Ciampa,  in  the  absolute 
power  of  the  King,  the  religious  despotism  of  the 
bonzes,  and  in  bad  legislation:  this  will  explain  why 
the  Annamite  though  less  civilized  than  the  Kmer, 
has  yet  been  able  to  conquer  him,  and  drive  him  from 
his  native  soil. 

M.  Jacolliot,  in  his  remarkable  essays  on  India, 
comes  to  the  same  conclusion ;  it  is  the  influence  of  a 
bigotry  which,  from  birth  to  death,  enfolds  man  in  its 
inextricable  bonds,  which  has  made  the  Hindoo  a  man 
without  patriotism,  and  rendered  his  country,  ever 
since  the  days  of  Alexander  the  Great,  a  prey  to  every 
conqueror. 

The  Kmer  Vulgar  Tongue.  The  Kmer  is  a  language 
with  a  monosyllabic  tendency,  and  is  spoken  recto  tono, 

*  Otherwise  known  as  ^yam-bods  (no  doubt  Siam  or  Shan-bods). 
Forlong  believes  them  to  be  the  original  Indian  Colonisers  who  settled 
down  at  the  head  of  the  delta  of  the  Mekong  and  around  its  gieat  inland 
swampy  sea,  where  flourished  Indbn  arts  and  religions  for  some  2000 
years.  These  people  were  known  to  other  Indians  as  Kmirs,  and  were 
principally  ophiolaters  irom  Ceylon  and  the  Tamil  and  Telagu  coasts. 
Arabian  sailors  called  them  Komirs  or  Kh'mars,  thought  to  mean 
"Cunning  craftsmen"  or  "Artisans,"  which  their  elaborate  sculptures  and 
architecture  showed  they  were.  But  Kamirs  or  Chamirs  seems  to  be  a 
corruption  of  Tamils.  See  similar  Dravidian  etymologies  given  by  Prof. 
Oppert  in  his  Bharata-Varsa,  here  reading  as  usual  r  for  /."  (See 
Forlong's  work  on  Comp.  Religions,  London,   1897). 


186     UNTRODDEN  FIELDS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY, 

and,  consequently,  differs  completely  from  the  Chinese 
and  the  Annamite  vario  tono. 

Francis  Garnier,  ^  the  explorer,  asserts  that  in  the 
savage  tribes,  which  still  exist  upon  the  tops  of  the 
highest  mountains,  he  has  discovered  the  sources  of 
the  primitive  language  of  the  autochthones.  They 
were  conquered,  at  some  very  remote  epoch,  by  the 
Aryans  coming  from  India,  who  imposed  on  the  con- 
quered people  Brahmanism,  and  themselves  formed  the 
high  caste  of  Brahmins. 

The  Sacred  Language.  This  theory  would  seem 
to  be  supported  by  the  fact  of  the  existence  of  a 
sacred  language,  which  is  not  understood  by  the  com- 
mon people,  and  is  possessed  by  only  a  limited  number 
of  priests  and  high  personages.  Pali,  which  is  an 
Aryan  language,  forms  the  basis  of  this  sacred  language, 
sentences  of  which  are  inscribed  upon  the  facades  of 
the  temples  of  Angkor  the  Great,  and  the  immense 
sculptures,  which  cover  the  walls  of  these  temples,  are 
reproductions  of  the  legends  of  those  sacred  .books, 
the  Hindoo  Vedas. 

The  civilization  of  Cambodia  came,  therefore,  from 
India,  and  the  conquest  and  ruin  of  the  country  are 
due  to  Annam,  which  was  pushed  on  by  China.  This 
conquest  of  the  ancient  Kingdom  of  Ciampa  by  a  less 
civilized  nation,  reminds  us  of  the  fall  of  Roman 
civilization,  brought  about  by  the  Barbarians  of  the 
North,  and  the  invasion  of  the  South  by  the  tribes  of 
the  North  of  France. 

>  Francis  Garnier,  was  murdered  in  Cochin-China  some  ten  or 
twelve  years  ago,  after  rendering  incalculable  services,  often  in  spite  of 
his  own  interests,  to  France.  He  reaped  the  usual  harvest — neglect  and 
indiiference  till  it  was  too  late. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

Sexual  intercourse,  its  forms  and  perversions  among  the  Cam- 
bodians.—  The  lover  as  a  water-carrier.  —  Two  Kmer  proverbs. — 
Marriage. — Polygamy.— The  rank  of  the  first  ivife. — Adultery 
and  its  repression. — Divorce. —  Various  reasons  for  divorce. — 
Reconciliation  of  divorced  couples. — Adoption. — Mariners  of  the 
Kmer  zvoman.  —  The  life  of  a  young  girl. — King  Noro-dom's 
harem.  —  The  royal  corps  de  ballet.  —  Singing  and  music. — Manner 
of  copulating.  —  Perversions  of  the  sexual  passion  amongst  the 
Cambodians. 

Betrothals.  A  marriage  is  always  preceded  by  a 
betrothal.  Recourse  is  first  had  to  a  sort  of  female 
go-between  (of  a  serious  kind),  who  adroitly  sounds 
the  family  of  the  young  girl  as  to  their  intentions. 
If  these  are  favourable,  three  matrimonial  agents  are 
sent,  and  are  accompanied  by  some  of  the  relatives  of 
the  aspirant  for  the  hand  of  the  young  girl,  who  bring 
with  them  presents.  The  girl's  hand  is  then  supposed 
to  be  granted,  and  the  young  fiance  must  enter  upon 
his  love  noviciate,  which  consists  in  carrying  water 
and  wood  to  the  house. 

According  to  M.  Aymonier's  account,  on  a  certain 
day,  previously  fixed,  the  young  man  repairs  to  the 
house  of  his  lady-love's  parents,  which  he  first  salutes, 
before  ascending  the  ladder  which  leads  to  his  future 
wife's  abode.  He  again  salutes  as  he  enters  the  house, 
where  he  is  in  future  to  reside,  and  perform  the  double 

187 


188  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

duty  of  servant  and  sweetheart  to  the  lady  of  his 
choice,  to  whom,  by  the  way,  he  has  never  yet  spoken 
a  single  word.  The  customs  of  the  country  forbid 
young  people  of  different  sexes  to  meet  together,  and 
render  necessary  a  proceeding  of  the  kind  described, 
in  order  that  a  young  man  may  pay  his  court  to  his 
future  wife. 

The  amorous  water-carrier  is  at  the  beck  and  call 
of  the  father  and  mother  of  the  girl,  and  the  girl 
herself,  and  they  make  him  trot  about  on  all  sorts  of 
errands,  but,  as  a  reward,  his  sweetheart  prepares  his 
food,  and  his  "  quids"  of  betel,  and  rolls  his  cigarettes 
for  him.  Whether  she  carries  her  condescension  so 
far  as  to  give  him  a  light  for  them,  M.  Aymonier 
does  not  say.  An  intimacy  is  established,  sooner  or 
later,  though,  in  the  beginning,  the  modest  young 
woman  does  not  dare  to  leave  the  house,  and  sends 
her  lover  his  quids  and  cigarettes  by  the  hand  of  one 
of  her  little  sisters ;  when  she  offers  them  herself  that 
is  considered  as  an  avowal  of  reciprocated  affection. 

As  a  measure  of  precaution,  the  youth  sleeps  in 
the  kitchen,  and  is  thus  separated  from  the  chamber 
of  the  young  woman  by  the  bed-room  of  her  parents. 

There  are,  however,  means  of  circumventing  these 
safeguards  of  morality  and  prudence,  for,  when  a 
courtship  lasts  a  very  long  time,  one  or  more  babies 
may  assist  at  the  wedding  of  their  procreators.  This 
often  happens  amongst  the  poorer  classes,  when  the 
marriage  ceremony  is  long  deferred,  perhaps  for  sever- 
al years. 

It  should  be  said,  however,  that  the  law  recognizes 
the  ceremony  of  betrothal  as  a  half  marriage,  and 
gives  the  engaged  couple  certain  privileges,  though 
it  imposes  upon  them  sundry  duties.     When  a  girl  is 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  189 

once  seduced  (that  is  to  say  has  lost  her  virginity) 
the  young  man  cannot  draw  back  out  of  his  engagement. 
On  the  other  hand  the  girl,  when  she  has  once 
accepted  a  young  man,  has  no  longer  the  right  to 
flirt  with,  or  be  courted  by,  other  young  men,  and, 
if  her  infidelity  can  be  proved,  she  is  punished  exactly 
as  though  she  were  an  adulterous  wife.  The  children 
proceeding  from  a  too  warm  courtship  are  regarded 
as  legitimate. 

Two  Kmer  Proverbs.  There  are  two  Kmer  prov- 
erbs, which  are  rather  amusing,  concerning  this  cere- 
mony of  betrothal,  and  the  results  which  generally 
spring  therefrom.  "  To  leave,"  says  the  first,  "  a  young 
girl  alone  with  a  young  man,  is  like  entrusting  an 
elephant  with  the  care  of  a  plantation  of  sugar-canes."  ^ 

*  This  quaint  saying  calls  to  mind  a  ball-room  incident  recorded  by 
Burton : — 

"  To  give  a  taste  of  '  Mother  Damnable's '  quality.  I  had  been 
waltzing  with  a  girl,  who,  after  too  much  exertion,  declared  herself 
fainting.  I  led  her  into  what  would  at  home  be  called  the  cloak-room, 
fetched  her  a  glass  of  water,  and  was  putting  it  to  her  lips,  when  the 
old  lady  stood  at  the  door.  '  Oh  dear !  I  never  intended  to  interrupt 
you,'  she  said,  made  a  low  bow,  and  went  out  of  the  room,  positively, 
delighted." 

We  cannot  miss  the  opportunity  of  contrasting  the  customs  of  court- 
ship in  France  and  England.  Our  Gallic  neighbours  consider  that  a  girl's 
reputation  is  lost  if,  before  marriage,  she  allows  herself  to  be  alone  with 
her  fiance.  In  England,  on  the  contrary,  sweethearts  frequently  pass 
hours,  and  sometimes  a  whole  day  together  without  the  presence  of  a 
third  person.  Climate  and  character  have  undoubtedly  much  to  do  with 
this.  Your  Frenchman  wisely  thinks  it  better  to  keep  the  "  cup  from 
getting  broken "  than  to  try  and  mend  it  afterwards  by  an  action  for 
"Breach  of  Promise."  Frenchwomen  are  alive  to  this,  and  act  on  the 
principle  of  never  trusting  a  man.  Of  course,  in  spite  of  all  their  pre- 
cautions, some  do  fall  into  the  seducer's  trap,  (or  is  it  the  contrary  ?)  but 
as  a  rule,  this  is  only  because  they  wanted  to. 


190  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

It  is  well-known  that  the  elephant  is  as  fond  of  sugar- 
canes  as  a  school-boy  is  of  sugar-sticks.  "  Never  trust 
hens'  eggs  to  a  crow,"  is  the  second; — the  crow  has 
a  reputation  of  being  extremely  partial  to  eggs. 

Marriage. — Polygamy.  I  shall  not  describe  the 
marriage  ceremonies,  which  are  very  long  and  com- 
plicated. 

Polygamy  is  practised  in  Cambodia,  but  only  amongst 
the  rich  class  of  mandarins,  for  the  poor  man  of  the 
lower  classes  has  enough  to  do  to  support  only  one 
wife.  The  Cambodian  law  allows  three  legitimate 
wives,  of  whom  the  first  {thorn)  is  considered  as  the 
chief;  she  has  been  demanded  in  marriage,  and  espoused 
according  to  the  traditional  rites.  The  second,  or 
"middle  wife",  is  nothing  but  a  legal  mistress,  for  no 
demand  is  made  to  her  parents  for  her  hand,  and  the 
marriage  ceremonies  are  not  performed.  Finally,  the 
third  wife  is  simply  a  concubine,  and  is  generally  a 
young  slave,  bought  from  her  master  by  some  rich 
man,   who  has  been  captivated  by  her  beauty. 

The  Position  of  the  First  Wife.  By  a  peculiar 
fiction,  the  first  wife  is  considered  the  mother  of  all 
the  children  of  her  husband,  even  when  they  are  the 
offspring  of  the  other  wives.  Only  the  mandarins  can 
(on  account  of  the  great  expense)  afford  the  luxury 
of  several  wives. 

Adultery,   and  Its  Repression.     The  penalty  for 

We  may  mention  that  the  note  re  Burton  is  tiken  from  the  ist  vol. 
of  the  "  Life  and  Achievements  of  Sir  R.  F.  Burton  by  his  wife  Isabel 
Burton."  This  "Life,"  except  in  its  main  outlines,  is  about  as  much 
like  the  downright  Agnostic  and  spicy  story-teller  (to  his  club-friends)  as 
it  is  to  the  "man  in  the  moon". 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  191 

adultery  is  not  very  heavy,  and  varies  according  to 
the  rank  of  the  guilty  person.  It  costs  much  more 
to  seduce  the  wife  of  a  mandarin,  than  the  wife  of 
a  common  person.  The  paramour  has  only  to  pay  a 
fine.  As  to  the  woman,  a  singular  custom  prevails, 
which  recalls,  in  some  respects,  the  ways  of  our  jovial 
ancestors.  Her  face  is  covered  with  a  basket,  and  on 
her  ears  and  round  her  neck  are  placed  red  roses,  as 
a.  derisive  symbol  of  a  modesty  which  can  no  longer 
blush,  and  then  she  is  led  through  the  streets  and 
obliged  to  confess  aloud  the  sin  of  which  she  has  been 
guilty.  With  the  exception  of  the  rope  and  the  che- 
mise, this  is  much  the  same  as  the  confession  before 
the  church-doors  in  the  Middle  Ages.  What  is  more 
serious,  however,  is  that  the  law  of  Cambodia  punishes 
with  the  same  fine,  the  gallant  who  makes  a  rendez- 
vous with  a  married  woman,  or  kisses  her,  and  the 
procurer  who  favours  these  illicit  meetings.  ^  But 
though  the  Cambodian  law  esteems  a  mere  fine  as 
sufficient  penalty  for  the  offence  of  taking  another 
man's  wife,  it  permits  the  outraged  husband  to  kill 
the  guilty  parties  if  they  are  caught  in  /lagra?ite 
delicto.  ^  But,  all  the  same,  he  is  obliged  to  kill  both, 
for  if  he  should  pardon  his  wife,  and  kill  the  para- 
mour, or  allow  him  to  escape,  and  wreak  his  vengeance 
on    his   wife    only,  he  is  liable  to  have  to  pay  a  fine, 

'  Cambodian  legislation,  in  punishing  equally  both  the  parties  guilty 
of  adultery,  seems  to  us  to  be  dictated  by  a  stricter  sense  of  justice  than 
European  law,  according  to  which  the  burden  of  the  penalty  falls  far 
more  heavily  on  the  woman  than  on  the  man. 

"  It  has  been  particularly  remarked  that  French  juries,  In  the  Depart- 
ment of  the  Seine,  are  generally  inclined  to  extreme  indulgence  in  cases 
of  passional  crime,  and  when  death  is  inflicted  on  one  or  both  the  cul- 
prits surprised  in  flagrante  delicto,  an  acquittal  is  almost  certain  to  be 
dealt  out  to  the  death-doer. 


192  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF 

in  proportion  to  his  social  rank,  to  the  Public  Treasury. 
If  a  wife,  who  has  been  more  or  less  ill-treated  by 
her  husband,  runs  away,  and  takes  refuge  with  her 
parents,  they  must  bring  her  back  to  her  husband 
within  a  month  at  the  latest,  or  they  are  liable  to  be 
fined. 

Divorce  exists  among  the  Kmers;  a  divorce  can  be 
obtained  if  both  parties  mutually  agree  to  ask  for  it, 
— which  seems  to  me  a  very  sensible  rule. 

A  woman  who  is  plagued,  ill-treated,  or  thrashed 
by  her  husband,  can  claim  a  divorce,  especially,  if 
during  the  time  she  is  so  treated,  her  husband  should 
take  a  second  wife.  Such  a  case  is  forejudged.  If 
the  woman  fails  to  prove  her  case,  she  must  return  to 
the  conjugal  domicile,  and  the  husband  has  even  the 
right  to  bring  her  back  by  force;  but  if  she  should 
stil  resolutely  refuse  to  live  with  him,  a  divorce  is 
then  pronounced. 

Various  Reasons  for  Divorce.  Another  cause 
for  divorce  is  the  prolonged  absence  of  a  husband, 
who  does  not  return  at  the  date  fixed.  The  wife  has 
then  the  right  to  demand  a  divorce,  provided  that  she 
restore  to  his  family,  in  the  presence  of  the  magistrate, 
the  presents  and  goods  that  her  husband  has  given  her. 

If  the  man  absents  himself  without  any  reason,  his 
wife  may  obtain  a  divorce  after  a  delay  of  from  nine 
to  eleven  months.  The  time  will  depend  upon  how 
far  distant  is  the  place  where  the  fugitive  husband  is 
known  to  be  living.  But  if  he  should  return  within 
the  stipulated  period,  his  wife  is  bound  to  receive  him. 

The  husband  who  is  absent  on  legitimate  business 
connected   with  his  trade  or  profession,  and  has  gone 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  193 

to  some  distant  place,  and  who  neglects  to  send  any 
tidings  of  himself  for  a  year  or  more,  is  liable  to  have 
his  wife  divorce  him. 

A  delay  of  three  years  is  accorded  if  the  husband 
has  sent  money  to  his  wife,  or  if  he  has  gone  to  China. 
The  delay  is  extended  to  seven  years  if  it  is  known  that 
his  boat  has  been  taken  by  pirates,  or  been  shipwrecked. 
We  may  compare  this  with  the  delay  of  five  years  granted 
by  the  French  law,  which  in  a  similar  case  declares 
the  husband  to  be  dead  after  the  expiration  of  that  time. 

Yet  another  cause  for  a  divorce  is  a  very  odd  one, 
and  does  not,  I  think,  figure  in  any  other  code  of  laws. 
It  is  this.  When  a  Cambodian,  in  a  moment  of  anger, 
demolishes  with  a  hatchet  or  cutlass,  the  conjugal  dom- 
icile— which,  as  it  is  generally  made  of  wicker-work 
is  not  a  difficult  task, — and  removes  all  his  propsrty 
to  his  parents'  house,  and  resides  there  himself,  even 
for  a  period  of  only  twenty-four  hours,  his  marriage 
can  be  dissolved.  In  this  case,  the  wife  keeps  the  wed- 
ding presents.  It  is  curious  to  contrast  these  various 
reasons  with  those  regulating  divorce  in  Annam,  and 
it  will  be  seen  that  there  is  a  great  difference  in  morals 
between  the  two  nations. 

The   Reconciliation   of  Divorced  Couples.     If  a 

divorced  couple  become  reconciled,  and  sleep  together, 
the  decree  of  divorce  is  annulled. 

We  may  mention  in  passing  that  the  Kmer  code 
recognizes  community  of  property,  and  separation  a 
7nensa  ct  thoro.  The  code  also  advocates  the  duty  of 
gratitude  on  the  part  of  children  to  their  parents,  and 
forbids  a  judge  to  receive  any  plaint  from  a  son 
bringing  an  action  against  his  father,  for  a  bill  which 
has  been  accepted  and  not  paid. 


194  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

Adoption  is  also  permitted,  and  encouraged  by  law, 
and  is  not  uncommon  amongst  people  of  dissimilar 
ages.  It  is  celebrated  by  a  ceremony  at  which  offerings 
are  made  to  the  spirits.  Adopted  children  are  regarded 
as  though  they  were  the  real  oifsprings  of  the  persons 
adopting  them,  and  are  treated  the  same.  When  they 
leave  the  country,  they  take  farewell  of  their  adopted 
parents,  who  offer  them  betel  and  arrack  at  their 
departure.  Generally,  they  do  not  forget  their  adoptive 
parents  and  write  to  them,  and  send  presents.  They 
are  forbidden  to  marry  with  the  daughters  of  their 
adopters,  although  they  are  not  connected  with  them 
by  blood.     This  is  a  very  curious  moral  restriction. 

The  Manners  of  the  Kmer  Woman  are  much 
more  pure  than  those  of  the  Annamite  woman.  With 
some  rare  exceptions,  Europeans  never  have  anything 
to  do  with  any  of  them,  except  prostitutes  who  are 
slaves,  and  exercise  the  calling  for  the  benefit  of  their 
unscrupulous  masters. 

The  Life  of  the  Young  Girl.  It  may  be  said  that 
the  young  girl  among  the  Kmers  is  watched  as  care- 
fully as  a  saucepan  of  milk  on  the  fire.  She  is  entirely 
hidden  from  Asiatic  foreigners,  and  a  fortiori  from 
Europeans.  Sometimes  you  may  see  afar  a  young 
Cambodian  girl  going  to  the  well,  and  wearing  a  small 
piece  of  cloth  or  cotton  on  her  chignon  (girls  wear,  as 
we  have  already  said,  their  hair  long),  but,  as  soon  as 
she  catches  sight  of  you,  she  rushes  into  the  hut,  where 
she  remains  shut  up  till  the  stranger  is  gone.  They 
never  appear  in  public,  except  at  festivals,  or  to  go 
to  the  pagoda.  On  account  of  these  austere  customs, 
prostitution    of  children,    so    common  in  Cochin-China, 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  195 

is  unknown  in  Cambodia,  and  the  Kmers  have  the 
right  to  regard  with  contempt,  the  depravity  of  youth 
which  exists  amongst  their  conquerors. 

It  may  be  said,  that  in  Cambodia  illegitimate  children 
are  almost  unknown.  The  code,  however,  contains 
some  stringent  regulations  concerning  offences  against 
morals,  and  a  man  is  punished  for  seduction  in  pro- 
portion to  the  difficulty,  or  ease,  he  had  in  effecting 
his  object.  Rape  is  punished  very  severely,  with  chains 
and  imprisonment.  This  Cambodian  law  resembles,  in 
many  points,  the  law  of  Moses. 

Noro-dom's  Harem.  King  Noro-dom  has  eleven 
legitimate  wives.  The  one  who  is  wanting  to  make 
up  the  dozen,  is  the  queen  who  should  occupy  the  chief 
rank,  and  who,  in  accordance  with  custom,  must  always 
be  a  princess  of  the  royal  blood;  her  title  would  be 
Ac-Kha-Mohe  Sey. 

He  has  also  an  unlimited  number  of  concubines.  In 
appearance,  he  is  dried-up,  and  stunted,  and  looks  as 
weak  as  his  subjects  look  firm  and  vigorous.  The 
best  French  brandy,  opium,  and  women,  have  ruined 
his  constitution.  He  evidently  cannot  satisfy  all  his 
wives,  any  more  than  Solomon  could:  as  the  song  says 

"  However  ardent  a  man  may  be, 
Though  he  have  the  strength  of  a  dozen  men, 
If  he  has  to  sleep  with  six  hundred  wives. 
He  will  want  a  holiday  now  and  then."  ' 

*  Our  version  is  not  exactly  word  for  word.     What  translation  in  verse 

can    be?     We    therefore    think  it  proper  to  give  the  student  the  French 

text  besides. 

["  Brulat-on  des  plus  vives  flammes, 

S'il  faut  contenter  six  cents  femmes, 

Quelque  soit  le  tempdrament, 

(^a  doit  g^ner  sur  Ic  moment."  ] 


196  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

This  verse  comes  back  to  my  memory  some  years 
after  I  first  heard  it  sung,  which  was  at  a  music-hall 
in  .Saigon  in  1889,  during  my  second  sojourn  there, 
which  was  whilst  Noro-dom,  was  on  a  visit  to  the 
Governor  General.  The  European  public  applied  these 
lines  te  Noro-dom,  and  encored  them;  it  does  not  take 
much  to  amuse  French  people  in  the  Colonies.  The 
prospect  of  one  day  having  the  honour  to  be  admitted 
to  the  royal  bed  must  suffice  for  most  of  these  ladies, 
for  Noro-dom  holds  strong  opinions  concerning  the 
privileges  of  a  kingly  husband. 

The  royal  harem  is  contained  in  a  special  part  of 
the  palace,  and  the  ladies  are  well  and  closely  watched ; 
no  one  can  be  admitted  to  their  apartments  without  an 
order  from  His  Majesty.  In  1873,  King  Noro-dom 
had,  it  is  said,  two  of  his  wives,  whom  he  suspected 
of  infidelity,  publicly  executed  along  with  their  sup- 
posed accomplices. 

The  Royal  Corps  de  Ballet.  Besides  his  con- 
cubines the  King  has  his  theatrical  singers  and  dancers. 
They  all  receive  a  salary  of  food  and  money,  and  have 
a  suite  of  attendants,  and  the  regulations  concerning 
etiquette,  etc.,  are  minutely  observed.  Noro-dom  gener- 
ally imports  his  dancing-girls  and  concubines  from 
Siam ;  they  come  to  Cambodia  when  they  are  about 
thirteen  or  fourteen  years  old.  The  dance  of  the  royal 
bayaderes  is  rather  a  representation  than  a  dance  prop- 
erly so  called.  The  subjects  of  the  ballets  are  always 
borrowed  from  the  Hindoo  epics,  and  Buddhic  tradition, 
and  represent  episodes  in  the  life  of  Cakya-Mouni. 

I  assisted  at  one  of  these  ballets,  which  was  per- 
formed under  a  long  rectangular  shed,  the  sides  of 
which  being  open,  permitted  the  King's  faithful  subjects 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  197 

to  sit  on  the  ground  and  witness  the  royal  performance, 
The  throne  is  on  a  platform,  in  a  small  building  at 
the  end  of  the  shed.  At  the  King's  feet,  sits  the  royal 
band,  and  their  music  is  not  wanting  in  melody,  even 
to  European  ears:  it  does  not  torture  you,  like  the 
horrible  Chinese  music.  One  of  the  instruments  is  a 
sort  of  harmonica,  with  bells  of  silver,  and  silvered 
copper,  which  makes  a  very  agreeable  peal. 

Singers  and  Music.  There  are  also  singers  who 
usually  come  from  Siam,  and  whose  rather  tremulous 
voices  are  accompanied  by  the  music  of  string  instru- 
ments, a  kind  of  clarionet,  or  oboe,  and  the  bell-har- 
monica just  mentioned.  From  time  to  time,  the  heavy 
thuds  of  the  tam-tam,  and  the  click  of  wooden  castanets, 
punctuate  the  phrases  of  the  music. 

Forms    of    Copulation    used    in    Cambodia.     I 

regret  to  have  to  confess  to  the  reader  that  I  can  give 
no  precise  information  on  this  point,  the  almost  universal 
chastity  of  the  women,  and  the  modest  reserve  of  the 
Cambodian  man,  having  prevented  me  from  learning 
any  details  of  the  secrets  of  the  domestic  life  of  this 
people. 

I  may  simply  say  that  copulation  is  practised  without 
any  sort  of  "tricks",  in  the  classical  manner,  the 
woman  lying  on  her  back,  and  the  man  on  the  top  of 
her.  More  I  could  not  learn,  for  the  Cambodian  is  as 
silent  in  these  matters  as  the  Annamite  is  talkative. 

Perversions  of  Sexual  Intercourse  amongst 
the  Cambodians.  I  ought  also  to  say  in  praise  of 
this  people,  that,  in  spite  of  their  decadence,  their 
manners  have    remained    pure.     Prostitutes   are  to   be 


198     UNTRODDEN  FIELDS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

found  in  Cambodia,  as  everywhere  else,  but  they  only 
practise  natural  methods,  and  are  not  like  their  southern 
neighbours,  addicted  to  mouth  suction,  and  they  abhor 
sodomy. 

Pederasty  has  not,  in  Cambodia,  the  place  of  honour 
that  it  holds  in  Cochin-China.  There  are,  it  is  true, 
pederasts,  or  rather  passive  agents,  amongst  the  poor 
homeless  children  who  wander  about  the  streets  of 
Pnom-Penh,  but  they  only  constitute  exceptions  to  the 
general  rule.  When  they  do  consent  to  commit  sodomy, 
it  is  with  repugnance,  and  not  like  the  Annamite, 
who  is  ready  and  willing  to  take  either  the  active  or 
passive  part, — whichever  is  required. 

The  result  of  this  is,  that  the  Frenchman,  who  comes 
from  Cochin-China  to  Cambodia,  has  to  take  a  native 
mistress,  for  he  finds  neither  the  "daylight  whore", 
the  7iay,  or  the  boy.  This  is  a  fresh  and  evident 
proof  that  we  did  not  import  these  disgusting  practices 
into  Cochin-China,  since  they  do  not  exist  in  Cambodia, 
the  boundary  province  of  our  Eastern  colonies,  and 
yet  we  meet  with  them  again  in  Tonquin,  which  is 
also  inhabited  by  the  Cochin-Chinese  race. 


PART  THE  SECOND. -AMERICA. 

Guiana — Martinique. 
CHAPTER  I. 

A  short  stay  at  Martiniqne. — Arrival  at  Guiana,  —  Yellow  Fever 
and  its  preDentive  treatment.—  The  White  Creole  of  Cayenne. — 
Prejudices  against  colour.— The  fashionable  ivorld  of  Guiana. — 
Hospitality  of  the  Creoles  of  Cayenne.  —  The  Creole  dialect  and 
its  uncouthness. — Liveliness  of  the  Creole  ladies.  —  "  Lou  Tafanari 
and  her  potato".  —  The  misadventures  of  a  singer  of  indecent 
songs. —  Good  manners  and  kindheartedness  of  the  ladies  of 
Cayenne. 

A  Short  Stay  at  Martinique.  After  having  taken 
part,  as  an  ambulance  surgeon,  in  the  campaign  of 
1870-71,  I  was  sent,  a  year  or  two  after  that  terrible 
war,  to  Guiana. 

On  arriving  at  Martinique,  I  heard  that  yellow  fever 
had  broken  out  at  Guiana,  which  place  was  then  in 
quarantine.  The  military  detachment,  of  which  I 
formed  part,  received  orders  to  disembark  at  Fort  de 
France,  I  was  thus  able  to  spend  three  weeks  at 
Martinique,  and  I  also  stopped  there  a  fortnight  three 
years  later,  on  my  return  from  Guiana. 

To  Martinique  I  shall  devote  a  separate  chapter. 

199 


200  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

Arrival  at  Guiana.  The  number  of  medical  men 
at  Guiana  being  barely  sufficient,  I  was  sent  to  rein- 
force the  medical  staff  there. 

Yellow-Fever    and    its    Preventive  treatment. 

This  was  the  first  time  I  had  come  face  to  face  with 
this  dangerous  disease, — concerning  which  I  intend 
some  day  to  publish  my  observations.  For  the  pres- 
ent, I  will  content  myself  with  saying  that,  thanks 
to  preventive  treatment  commenced  a  week  before  my 
departure  from  Fort  de  France,  I  was  able  to  escape 
five  deadly  epidemics  of  yellow-fever, — some  at  Guiana, 
and  some,  later  on,  at  Senegal. 

The  recipe  is  very  simple,  and  I  give  it  here  for 
the  benefit  of  any  of  my  readers  who  may  be  obliged 
to  stay  in  a  country  where  yellow-fever  prevails. 

You  take,  when  you  sit  down  to  lunch  or  dinner, 
at  first  two,  and  increase  the  dose  to  three,  and  finally 
to  five,  "pills  of  Dioscorides" ; — that  is  to  say  take 
four  pills  a  day  the  first  week,  six  a  day  the  second 
week,  and  ten  a  day  the  fourth  week. 

At  the  end  of  the  third  week  you  take  along  with 
the  arsenic,  a  gramme  of  iodide  of  potassium  per  day, 
which  you  drink  either  in  your  coffee,  or  your  morning 
milk. 

The  action  of  these  two  powerful  alteratives  is  as 
follows.  Arsenic  is  a  slow  medicine  but  a  powerful 
tonic,  giving  strength  and  muscle,  and  increasing  lung 
power.  It  has  but  one  fault,  and  that  is  that,  in 
tropical  countries,  it  settles  in  the  liver.  Then  the 
iodide  of  potassium  comes  in,  acts  as  a  marvellously 
good  purifier  of  the  blood,  and  drives  the  arsenic  out 
of  the  liver.  Whether  it  was  the  effect  of  this  pre- 
ventive treatment,  or  some  idiosyncrasy  in  my  consti- 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  201 

tution,  I  cannot  say,  but  I  have  attended  many  cases, 
and  even  made  post-mortem,  examinations,  without 
taking  the  disease. 

At  the  termination  of  the  epidemic,  as  my  service 
at  the  hospital, — where  I  was  entrusted  with  the  charge 
of  the  dissecting-room — left  me  some  leisure  in  the 
afternoon,  I  accepted  with  pleasure  the  offer  of  Dr. 
B***,  an  ex-naval  surgeon,  to  make  over  his  practice 
to  me  during  his  absence.  Dr.  B***,  was  suffering 
from  liver  disease,  and  wished  to  pass  the  summer  at 
Vichy  and  Paris.  He  was  the  only  civilian  physician 
in  the  Colony,  and,  as  he  was  a  mulatto,  his  patients 
were  almost  exclusively  negroes,  and  coloured  people. 
The  proposal  was  so  tempting  that  I  did  not  hesitate 
a  moment,  for  it  was  a  splendid  opportunity  for  me, 
to  study  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  coloured 
races. 

I  was  thus  able  to  study  the  most  minute  details 
of  their  ways,  for  a  doctor,  when  he  knows  what  he 
is  about,  is  like  a  confessor  to  his  patients. 

The  White  Creole  of  Cayenne  deserves  the  place 
of  honour  in  my  description.  He  is  the  descendant 
of  the  old  French  colonists,  who  settled  in  Guiana 
under  Louis  XIV,  and  Louis  XV.  Their  number  has 
diminished  so  much  that,  it  may  be  said,  that  nothing 
but  a  remembrance  of  them  remains.  The  depressing 
and  anaemic  action  of  the  climate  of  Guiana  on  the 
pure  white  race  is  so  great,  that  after  three  or  four 
generations  the  stock  is  completely  exhausted,  and 
marriages  between  white  Creoles  become  nearly  sterile. 
It  is  not  the  same,  however,  when  the  rcvififying 
action  (in  the  physiological  sense)  of  black  blood  is 
introduced.     The    Negro  is,  in  fact,  the  branch  of  the 


202  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

human  race  created  expressly  to  inhabit  the  hot  and 
unhealthy  countries  situated  under  the  equator.  By 
mixing-  with  the  white  race,  he  gives  the  latter  the 
power  to  resist  the  climate.  The  offspring  of  the  pure 
White  with  a  Quadroon  is  the  Alisti,  who,  consequently, 
has  but  an  eighth  part  of  black  blood  in  his  veins. 
This  small  proportion  suffices,  however,  to  preserve 
him  from  most  of  the  diseases  which  assail  the  Whites. 
The  White  can  never  go  out  in  the  heat  of  the  sun, 
without  a  sun  helmet  and  an  umbrella,  whilst  the  Misti 
walks  about,  wearing  nothing  but  a  straw  hat,  without 
any  danger. 

This  immunity  he  derives  from  the  Negro,  who  can 
with  impunity,  expose  his  woolly  head  to  the  fierce 
rays  of  the  tropical  sun. 

Most  of  the  Creole  families  of  Guiana  have  more 
or  less  black  blood  in  their  veins.  In  the  entire 
colony  there  were  not  more  than  five  families  in 
187 —  quite  free,  both  by  direct  descent  and  by  in- 
direct alliance,  from  all  admixture  with  the  Negro 
race. 

Prejudice  against  Colour.  The  real  Whites  being 
so  few  in  number,  you  do  not  find  at  Guiana  that 
prejudice  against  colour  which  is  so  strongly  devel- 
oped in  the  Antilles.  The  Whites  with  a  black  taint, 
who  form  the  great  majority  of  the  Creoles,  or  so- 
called  Whites,  have  Quadroon  or  even  Mulatto  parents, 
and  do  not  show  the  same  contempt  for  the  Blacks 
which  is  exhibited  by  the  Whites  of  the  Antilles. 
These  latter  are  sufficiently  numerous  to  stick  together 
and  form  a  sort  of  "Belgravia",  and  had,  up  to  187  — 
(the  date  of  my  visit)  obstinately  refused  all  intercourse 
with  the  coloured  people. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  203 

The  Fashionable  World  of  Guiana.     In  Guiana, 

on  the  contrary,  the  Whites  and  the  people  of  colour, 
the  officers  and  officials  from  France,  live  on  the  best 
possible  terms,  and,  according  to  their  position  frequent 
fashionable  society  without  paying  the  least  attention 
to  the  colour  of  the  skin. 

The  salons  of  the  Government  House  were  open  to 
all,  and  at  the  balls  there  you  might  see  dancing  the 
daughters  of  the  millionaire  W***,  a  white  man  from 
France,  married  to  a  Negress,  and  the  Mdlles.  C***,  the 
representatives  of  one  of  the  five  real  white  families 
of  the  country. 

The  common  and  dominant  characteristic  of  all  these 
young  women,  whether  pseudo-white  or  coloured,  was 
the  desire  to  marry  a  man  whiter  than  themselves.  A 
naval  officer,  or  Government  official,  who  was  also  a 
man  of  fashion,  was  the  rata  avis  they  laid  themselves 
out  to  catch. 

It  should  be  remarked,  that  all  the  Creole  families 
of  Guiana  who  are  at  all  well  to  do,  make  the  greatest 
possible  efforts  to  have  their  children  instructed  and 
educated.  Many  girls  and  boys  of  twelve  years  of 
age  are  sent  to  France,  to  be  educated  in  the  best 
establishments  till  they  are  eighteen.  The  girls  are 
usually  excellent  musicians.  Later  they  become  ex- 
cellent wives  and  mothers,  and  the  European  who 
marries  one  has  rarely  cause  to  regret  it. 

Hospitality    of  the    Creoles    of  Cayenne.     The 

Creole  of  Cayenne  is  thoroughly  hospitable.  Anyone 
who  is  admitted  into  a  household,  and  is  not  an  un- 
licked  cub,  becomes  at  once  the  friend  of  the  family, 
in  the  strictest  sense  of  the  word.  If  he  possesses  any 
social  accomplishment,  and  can  sing  a  song,  strum  on 


204  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

the  piano,  or  is  a  good  dancer,  he  is  considered  a 
valuable  acquisition.  Good  dancers  are  especially 
appreciated.  In  spite  of  an  average  temperature  of 
85*^  F.,  the  Creole  ladies  are  indefatigable,  and  will 
dance  all  night  and  until  sunrise,  and  hardly  rest  for 
a  moment.  Some  French  ladies  once  tried  to  support 
the  honour  of  the  flag  of  Paris,  but  the  next  day  they 
had  to  take  to  their  beds,  and  were  laid  up  for  two 
or  three  days. 

The  Creole   Patois  and  Its  Uncouthness.     The 

ladies  of  the  Colony  talk  amongst  themselves  the  soft 
sounding  Creole  patois,  which  is  easy  for  a  Frenchman 
to  understand,  for  it  is,  like  the  dialect  spoken  in  the 
Antilles,  a  corruption  of  the  French  language  from 
which  has  been  taken  the  r  (so  dear  to  the  Marseillais) 
and  certain  nasal  and  guttural  consonants,  and  to  which 
are  added  some  words  from  the  Portuguese,  and  some 
from  the  language  of  the  African  Negroes. 

It  possesses  no  more  syntax  than  a  telegram,  and 
in  two  months,  or  three  months  at  the  latest,  you  can 
talk  it  and  understand  it,  especially  if  you  choose  a 
coloured  woman  for  your  professor.  Latin  is  said  to 
be  a  plain-spoken  language,  and  the  Creole  patois  has 
the  same  attribute.  The  Creole  ladies  have  not  the 
hypocritical  modesty  of  the  daughters  of  Albion  who 
always  say  the  "  leg  "  of  a  fowl  and  never  the  thigh, 
and  would  never  dare  to  pronounce  the  word  "rump". 
On  the  contrary,  they  like  any  word  which  has  a  good 
flavour  about  it.  The  coloured  people  of  the  lower 
class  (like  our  ancestors  in  the  time  of  Rabelais),  see 
no  harm  in  calling  things  by  their  real  names.  They  call 
a  spade  a  spade,  and  a  rooK  a  "  fish  ".  They  use  rather 
a   picturesque    expression   for   this,    for  when  a  Negro 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  205 

wants  to  urinate  he  says:  "  I  am  going  to  change  the 
water  of  my  fish."  It  is  not  a  little  fish  either  which 
these  good  Negroes  possess,  but  a  big  eel  with  a  black 
head,  which  they  inherit  fi-om  their  Afi-ican  ancestors. 

The  Sportiveness  of  the  Creole  Ladies.  I  will 
allow  myself  here  to  tell  one  or  two  funny  stories, 
which  will  serve  to  show  the  playful  humour  of  the 
Creole  ladies.  I  obtained  a  round  of  laughter,  one 
evening  of  the  carnival,  by  relating,  at  a  private  party 
given  by  a  lady  of  the  best  society,  a  Provengal  story 
translated  into  the  Creole  patois. 

"  Lou  Nafanari"  and  "  son  Potato  ".  Here  is  the 
story  put  into  English : 

Miss  Rose,  a  rich  town-lady  went  with  her  farmer 
to  visit  her  estate.  She  was  mounted  on  a  she-ass,  and 
the  Spring,  or  something  else,  having  made  the  animal 
lively,  it  threw  up  its  heels,  with  the  result  that  Miss 
Rose  was  thrown,  and  her  petticoats  flying  up  she 
displayed  all  those  graceful  contours  which  she  always 
kept  modestly  covered.  Having  quickly  regained  her 
feet,  she  sprang  lightly  on  the  donkey's  back,  and 
gave  it  a  well-deserved  thrashing  for  throwing  her. 
The  incident  had  passed  so  quickly  that  the  farmer 
did  not  appear  to  have  noticed  it  at  all.  "  Peasant, 
did  you  see  my  agility?"  asked  the  lady;  to  which 
the  farmer  replied  gravely:  "  Vofi  may  call  that  your 
agility y  but  I  call  it  your  a — <?."  ^ 

*  Little  need  to  say  that  this  story  is  just  a  trifle  "older  than  the 
hills " ;  it  has  appeared,  more  or  less  modified  in  form,  in  most  European 
tongues  and  at  least  in  one  OrienUil, — (773 .-  the  Arabic,  compare  the 
story  in  the  Thousand  Nights  and  a  Night — Burton's  trans,  of  course), 
— of  the  ^^  Porter  and  the  Three  Ladies  of  Baghdad"  where  the  jester 
gets  a  severe  slapping  for  referring  in  irreverent  terms  to  the  women's 
"  monosyllable  " — It    is    moreover   a    "  chestnut  "    of    which  most  young, 


206  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

The  Misadventures  of  a  Singer  of  Indecent 
Songs.  At  these  pleasant  evening  parties,  where  you 
generally  meet  the  same  persons,  I  made  the  acquaintance 
of  an  officer  named  B***,  a  big  man  possessed  of  a 
stentorian  voice  which  he  used  for  singing  comic  songs. 
He  had. some  specially  adapted  for  ladies, — like  the 
Gros  Chat  gris,  Le  Soulier  de  Ale  lame,  Le  Chapcau 
de  la  Marguerite,  etc.,  the  best  songs  selected  from 
the  repertory  of  the  provincial  cafe  concert. 

By  a  singular  arrangement,  every  Thursday  night, 
instead  of  the  usual  mixed  party,  the  ladies  and 
gentlemen  each  had  a  separate  gathering. 

At  that  of  the  men,  our  musical  militaire  was  ac- 
customed to  sing  another  repertoire,  suited  to  his  hearers, 
and  comprising  all  the  worst  productions  from  the 
"  ordure  box"  of  Gouffe,  enlarged,  and  embellished. 
The  house  where  the  men  met  on  these  occasions, 
stood  almost  alone,  in  the  upper  part  of  the  town,  and 
the  neighbours  did  not  complain, — far  otherwise  indeed. 
Owing  to  the  heat  they  were  obliged  to  keep  their 
windows  open,  and  thus  were  enabled  to  enjoy  the 
concert,  besides  which,  a  dozen  young  rascals,  of  both 
sexes,  used  to  congregate  in  the  street,  and  listen  to 
the  deep  bass  of  the  singer,  and  so  complete,  quite 
gratis,  their  musical  and  moral  education.  The  curios- 
ity common  to  the  daughters  of  Eve,  also  moved  the 
ladies  of  the  upper  ten  to  wish  to  hear  these  songs, 
which  they  were  not  permitted  to  hear  in  their  own 
drawing-rooms.  To  effect  this,  they  used  the  following 
stratagem.     They   announced  one   evening,    that  they 

innocent  fledglings  hasten  to  relieve  their  consciences  in  the  after-dinner 
chat  and  smoke.  Despite  its  questionableness,  we  were  unwilling  to  ex- 
omit  it  from  a  translation,  of  which  the  chief  claim  to  merit  we  think, 
consists,  in  its  not  being  castrated.  Those  persons  whom  these  things 
"please  not"  must  skip  the  page. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  207 

intended,  on  the  following  Thursday,  to  pass  the  even- 
ing at  the  house  of  a  lady  who  lived  at  the  opposite 
end  of  the  town  to  the  place  where  the  men  met. 
But,  on  the  night,  they  secretly  repaired  to  a  house 
which  was  almost  opposite  the  gentlemen's  meeting- 
place.  They  assembled  together,  and  in  a  room  with- 
out any  light,  which  might  have  betrayed  them,  and 
with  the  windows  open,  they  were  excellently  placed 
to  hear  the  whole  of  the  erotic  repertory,  without  their 
presence  being  suspected. 

It  chanced  that  on  that  evening  the  artiste  felt 
himself  very  much  in  the  vein,  and  selected  the  hottest 
songs  in  his  collection,  and  all  the  smuttiest  words  were 
trolled  out,  and  fell  on  the  listeners'  ears  like  strokes 
of  the  tam-tam.  Not  a  syllable  of  this  was  lost.  The 
next  day,  at  a  soiree  at  which  both  sexes  met,  one 
of  the  most  amiable  and  most  larky  of  the  ladies,  who 
being  an  excellent  musician,  had  remembered  the  airs 
from  once  hearing  them,  ^  offered  to  accompany  M.  B***, 
on   the   piano.      "  I   hope   you  will  give  us  something 

'  Let  no  one  throw  up  their  hands  and  exclaim  against  the  shockingness 
of  these  free-and-easy  manners.  They  are  equalled,  if  not  out-distanced, 
in  certain  rehgious  circles,  whose  mysticism  only  makes  them  the  more 
specious  and  dangerous.  Take  the  following: — "The  'Salvation  Army' 
is  in  itself  a  scandal,  but  let  its  disciples  say  and  do  as  they  please  among 
themselves,  ourselves  abstaining  from  listening  to  or  following  them.  It 
is  impossible  to  push  insanity  to  a  greater  extremity  than  do  these  people, 
when  it  is  remembered  that  the  female  marshal  of  this  army  dared  to 
assert,  before  an  assembly  of  four  thousand  hallucinated  fools :  '  that  one 
night,  being  stark  naked,  she  saw  Christ  in  person  and  that  she  conceived 
by  his  operation.'  This  is  erotic  love,  or  more  surely  pure  mystical 
onanism.  Not  satisfied  with  fornicating  with  the  images  of  her  god,  the 
marshal,  like  the  Hebrews  stigmatized  by  Ezekiel,  invents  a  virile  and 
lewd  god  to  satisfy  the  lascivious  desires  of  an  army  of  hysterical 
maniacs  .  .  .  The  Salvation  Army  is  a  proof  that  there  are  to  be  found 
everywhere  simples  de  ccciir  et  d' esprit."  (Dr.  Bougl^,  "Z«  vices 
dii  Peiiple,"  Paris,    1 888,  iu-8vo  pp.  44 — 46.) 


208  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

fresh, "  she  said.  "  We  have  heard  on  good  authority 
that  you  received  by  the  last  mail  a  lot  of  new  songs 
which  you  intend  to  give  us.  These  ladies  are  all 
looking  forward  to  a  great  treat." 

"  Pardon  me,  Madame,  you  are  mistaken,  and  I  do 
not  know  who  has " 

"  Bah !  Bah !  do  not  be  so  modest.  This,  I  know, 
is  the  air  of  one  of  your  new  songs,"  and  Mme  A*** 
began  to  play  on  the  piano  the  tune  of  La  Clef  d' Agnes. 

The  gentleman,  however,  remained  silent.  "  Perhaps 
you  have  forgotten  the  words,  I  will  assist  your  mem- 
ory," and  the  lady  sang  the  first  vers2. 

"Agnes  6tait  une  jeune  innocente ; 
On  I'a  marine  a  grand  Jeannot  Nigaud  ; 
La  premier'  nuit,  la  nuit  la  plus  charmante, 
Jeannot  ne  put " 

"  Well,  go  on ;  tell  us  the  rest !  " 

M.  B***,  was  stupefied,  but  maintained  a  prudent 
silence. 

"  If  that  song  does  not  please  you, "  continued  the 
lady,  "here  is  another,"  and  she  began  to  play  the  air 
of  the  'Dispute  entre  le  I.uc  et  le  Noc'  and  sing: 

"  Un  jour  un  luc  plein  de  nert6 
Tint  au  noc  ce  langage : 
$0VTpas-tu  toujours  a  men  nez  ' 
Et  dans  mon  voisinage?" 
'  The   above   curious   French    verses    remind    us    that  in  Spanish  and 
other   languages,  there  are  many  similar  in  style  and  idea,  among  others 
the    following,    which    we    heard    given    after    dinner  in  Madrid  by  an 
eminent  contemporary  politician 

"  Si  el  cofio  tuviera  dientes 
Como  tiene  fortaleza, 
Cuantos  carajos  valientes 
Quedarian  sin  cabeza." 
We   believe   this    to   be  a  genuine  "  Andalusian  native ",  if  lacking  in 
propriety,  it  can  hardly  be  said  to  want  either  force  or  originality. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  209 

M.  B***,  looked  at  the  lady  with  his  eyes  starting 
out  of  his  head,  and  then  fled  precipitately  from  the 
drawing-room,  pursued  by  a  general  burst  of  laughter. 

Morality  and  Good-heartedness  of  the  Ladies 
of  Cayenne.  Such  freedom  of  manners  does  not  lead 
(as  might  be  supposed)  to  immorality.  No  doubt  there 
are,  here  as  elsewhere,  husbands  who  wear  horns,  and 
ladies  rather  too  ready  to  open  their  thighs,  but  they 
are  the  exception,  and  not  the  rule.  Generally  speak- 
ing, the  Creole  ladies  do  not  betray  their  husbands. 
They  are,  moreover,  excellent  mothers,  and  extremely 
fond  of  their  children.  This  love  of  progeny  they  even 
carry  so  far  that  if  their  husbands  have  bastards  by 
coloured  girls  or  negresses,  instead  of  driving  away  the 
children  as  would  be  done  in  France,  many  of  the 
ladies  of  Guiana  support  them,  and  provide  for  them. 
When  they  are  of  an  age  to  take  the  first  communion, 
they  are  sent  to  church,  the  girl  with  her  white  veil, 
handkerchief,  and  prayer-book,  the  boy  with  the  orthodox 
wax  candle,  and  white  silk  armlet.  If  the  boy  is 
intelligent,  he  is  given  some  amount  of  education,  and 
a  place  is  procured  for  him  as  a  clerk,  or  in  some 
Government  office.  If  the  girl  is  pretty,  she  is  often 
brought  up  in  the  house  as  a  poor  relation,  or  as  a 
sort  of  lady's  maid  or  companion. 

One  day  I  was  on  a  visit  to  one  of  the  best  white 
families  of  the  country,  and  I  saw  the  lady  of  the 
house  enter,  carrying  in  her  arms  a  fine  child,  almost 
white,  but  with  some  signs  of  black  blood. 

"  Is  that  the  child  of  one  of  your  neighbours,  Madame  ?  " 
I  asked. 

"No,  Mouch^,  the  child  of  MoucJU  S.  R."  (her 
husband. 


210  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

I  looked  at  her  with  astonishment.  She  smiled,  and 
pointed  to  her  maid,  a  handsome  mulatress  with  a 
splendid  bust. 

"  That  is  the  mamma  of  the  child,  and  Mouche  S.  R. 
is  the  father." 

The  legitimate  wife  was  carrying  in  her  arms  the 
adulterine  child  of  her  husband.  I  confine  myself  to 
this  one  instance,  but  I  could  cite  many  others.  ^ 

*  Primitive  nations  are  not  so  squeamish  about  the  husband  getting 
children  by  other  women  than  the  legal  wife.  We  can  cite  no  better 
known  illustration  than  that  given  in  Genesis  (chap.  XXX  verses  i — lo); 
to  which  we  recommend  the  reader  to  refer. 


.     CHAPTER  II. 

The  coloured  races.  —  The  influence  of  black  blood  on  cross-breeds 
with  the  White  7nan.  —  Mistis,  Quadroons,  Mulattoes,  and  Zam- 
bros.  —  The  proportion  of  illegitimate  children.  —  The  easy  morality 
of  the  coloured  woman.  —  The  thorough  Negress. — From  Saturday 
night  to  Sunday  motTiing. — "Milady  (7***,  the  Queen  of  the 
Golden  Wrists".  —  The  musky  smell  of  the  Negress. —  The  genital 
organs  of  the  Negro  race. —  Physiological  peculiarity  of  the  colour 
of  the  gland  of  the  Negro'' s  penis. —  The  genital  organ  of  the 
Zambro. —  The  genital  organ  of  the  Mulatto.— Physical  beauties 
cf  women  of  colonr. —  Permanent  influence  of  black  blood  on  the 
genital  organs  of  the  male. 

Influence  of  Black  Blood  on  Crosses  with  the 
White  Race.  The  cross  between  the  White  and  the 
Negro  produces,  in  the  human  race,  a  phenomenon 
analogous  to  that  which  is  observed  in  horses.  The 
pure  blood  stallion  produces  with  mares  of  an  inferior 
native  race,  foals  which  exhibit  the  qualities  of  its 
procreators.  Though  not  so  handsome  as  its  father, 
the  half-blood  is  much  superior  to  its  mother,  from 
whom,  however,  it  derives  a  certain  "  rusticity "  and 
the  power  to  resist  the  effects  of  the  climate.  This 
explains  the  almost  complete  dissappearance  from 
Guiana  of  the  pure  white  race,  whilst  on  the  contrary 
the  coloured  race  has  flourished.  Guiana  received, 
however,  in  the  reigns  of  Louis  XIV,  and  Louis  XV. , 
quite  as  many  Frenchmen  as  the  Antilles. 

211 


212  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

The  climate  soon  got  the  better  of  them,  as  witness 
for  instance  the  Kourou  expedition,  when  fifteen  thou- 
sand Alsatians  were  reduced  to  some  hundreds  only 
in  a  very  few  years. 


Mistis,  Quadroons,  Mulattos,  and  Zambros.    The 

Mulatto  is  the  direct  offspring  (nine  hundred  and  ninety- 
nine  times  out  of  a  thousand)  of  the  White  man  and 
the  Negress,  Those  who  are  born  of  Europeans  settled 
in  the  country,  or  who  have  a  white  Creole  parent, 
who  can  bring  them  up,  and  furnish  them  with  the 
means  of  living  prosperously,  quickly  become  people 
of  fashion.  There  are  already  many  families  of  this 
kind.  But  the  offspring  of  the  connections  of  the 
Negress  with  less  fortunate  Europeans,  temporarily 
residing  in  the  Colony,  (called  Massogans),  or  even 
with  common  soldiers,  fall  into  the  category  of  unfor- 
tunate beings. 

It  should  be  remarked,  that  the  Mulatto  is  nearly 
always  the  offspring  of  the  White  man  with  the 
Negress,  and  only  once  in  a  thousand  times,  of  the 
union  of  the  White  woman  with  the  Negro.  This  is 
a  clear  instance  of  natural  selection,  in  which  the 
woman  represents  the  inferior  element,  and  the  man 
the  pure  blood.  We  may  note  in  passing,  that,  in  the 
births,  the  girls  are  much  more  numerous  than  the 
boys.  There  are  not  —  as  is  the  case  in  Chili — four  or 
five  women  to  one  man,  but  there  are  certainly  more 
than  two. 

The  Negress  who  gives  birth  to  a  child  whiter  than 
herself,  will  make  the  greatest  sacrifices  to  bring  it  up 
properly;  she  will  do  any  kind  of  work,  and  put  up 
with    any    hardship,    to    ensure    the    existence    of  her 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  213 

progeny,  ^  and  gain  que  que  sous  niaques  ("  marked  " 
halfpence,  or  copper  money).  But  a  living  is  easily 
earned  in  a  country  where  you  need  neither  wood  nor 
coal  for  fuel,  and  where  all  you  require  for  food  is 
cooked  banana  (bacove),  fruit,  flat  fish,  cassava,  and 
bread  fruit. 

To  have  a  baby  is  no  dishonour  to  a  Negress  or  a 
Mulatta,  especially  if  it  is  by  a  White  man.  She  will 
select  for  its  godfather,  (who  is  considered  as  the 
putative   father),    whichever  of  her  lovers  has  the  best 

'  In  the  "■  Prtncesse  de  Bagdad"  of  Dumas,  the  woman  who  is  about 
to  abandon  the  conjugal  hearth  with  her  lover,  is  met  by  her  child,  who 
endeavours  to  retain  her  with  kisses;  the  lover  seeks  brutally  to  thrust 
the    child    aside;    that    suffices    to   awaken    the  maternal  feehng,  and  she 

refuses    to    go,    saying:      "-Ah/   I  was    ?nad/....   I  was  mad.' but 

when  that  ynan  raised  his  hand  on  my  child.,,.! 

In  fact  the  predominance  of  the  maternal  feeling,  is  such  that  it 
suffices  sometimes  to  weaken,  to  dissipate  and  even  to  suppress  the 
phenomena  of  love,  which  are  far  more  vigorous  in  the  male. 

That  is  why,  in  general,  woman  cares  less  for  youth  or  beauty  in  her 
husband  than  for  more  solid  qualities. 

Unfortunately,  among  certain  civilized  nations  marriage  has  become 
a  business  transaction,  in  which  sexual  intercourse  is  an  almost  extraneous 
matter. 

On  the  other  hand,  and  more  particularly  in  France,  marriage  means 
for  the  woman,  emancipation;  she  is  at  once  freed  from  the  social, 
or  absolutely  anti-social  thraldom  of  the  rules  of  Society. 

According  to  Icard  in  his  "  La  fetnme  pendant  la  Pe'riode  m,ens- 
truelle,  (Paris  1883),  sexual  desire  diminishes  and  in  fact  expires  as 
soon  as  gestation  has  commenced, 

Nevertheless,  the  antagonism  between  the  maternal  feeling  and  the 
sexual  instinct  does  not  inhibit  the  sub-existence  of  a  sensual  basis;  in 
fact  women  sometimes  enjoy  during  the  suckling  period  erotic  feelings, 
and  go  so  far  as  to  seek  to  be  again  in  a  state  of  maternity,  in  order  to  be 
able  to  renew  this  enjoyment,  greater  to  them  perhaps  than  the  act  of 
copulation  itself.  This  may  perhaps  be  to  some  extent  explained  by  the 
uterus  and  the  great  sympathetic  nervous  complexus. 

Lombroso,   La  fe7nm.e  CriminelU  (loc.  cit.  p.    115  et  seq.). 


214  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS    OF 

social  position.  I  will  not  go  so  far  as  to  say  that  she 
is  not  capable  of  fidelity  to  her  "  protector "  for  the 
time  being,  but  her  fidelity  is  but  relative.  She  will 
betray  her  lover  with  a  man  who  is  in  a  better  position, 
but  never  with  an  inferior. 

The  Proportion  of  Illegitimate  Births.  Statistics 
showed  that  in  187 — ,  there  were  born  at  Cayenne 
sixty  illegitimate  children  to  every  forty  legitimate. 
I  do  not  know  whether  this  has  changed.  The  con- 
sequence of  this  tolerance  in  the  matter  of  morals  is 
that  abortion  is  very  rare.  As  to  infanticides  after 
delivery,  they  are  almost  unknown  in  Guiana;  a  woman 
who  killed  her  child  would  be  lynched  by  the  other 
women.  Within  the  last  half  century,  there  has  never 
been  but  one  case,  and  then  the  woman  was  nearly 
an  idiot.  The  public  indignation  against  her  was  so 
strong  that  the  sentence  of  death  was  obliged  to  be 
carried  out,  or  the  women  of  the  lower  classes  would 
have  caused  serious  riots.  The  physician  who  is  a 
philosopher  must  be  gratified  at  such  a  result,  and 
deplore   the    opposite    condition  in  France,  ^  where,  in 

*  Christian  England  when  a  girl  has  tripped — due  more  often  than 
not  to  the  influence  of  a  stronger  will  than  her  own — pitches  her  out- 
of-doors  with  the  new-born  offspring  in  her  arms.  Forsaken  by  her 
seducer  as  well  as  by  her  own  kindred,  without  money  or  work  she  is 
driven  to  a  life  of  shame,  unredeemed  by  love,  to  support  her  child, 
while  the  man  who  has  misled  and  betrayed  her  goes  off  scot-free  to 
work  his  will  elsewhere.  When  will  the  overchurched  conscience  of  the 
British  wake  up  to  this  terrible  injustice  !  The  lost  woman's  so-called 
"  unfallen"  sisters  (because  they  were  never  tempted  ?)  are  the  first  to 
point  the  finger  of  scorn  at  her.  Is  it  because  they  are  jealous  that  she 
has  eaten  of  the  forbidden  fruit  which  they  have  not  been  bold  enough 
to  taste  ? 

The  illiterate  coloured  people  of  French  Guiana  look  upon  illegitimate 
unions  with  indulgence,  and  the  children  resulting  from  them  are  as 
dearly  cherished  as  those  born  in  wedlock. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  215 

the  large  cities,  (and  notably  at  Paris),  infanticide  is 
far  from  being  a  rarity. 

Easy    Morals   of  the   Coloured   Women.     The 

union  of  the  Mulatta  with  the  White  man  produces 
the  Quadroon.  It  is  amongst  the  Quadroon  women 
(whose  connection  with  the  White  man  produces  the 
Misti  ^)  that  are  found  the  most  beautiful  prostitutes. 
But,  like  the  Greek  courtesans,  they  do  not  bestow 
their  favours  on  the  first  comer.  Bonnes  Jilles  as 
they  are,  they  expect  a  little  courting,  and  you  must 
take  some  pains  to  please  them.  That  not  very 
honourable  institution,  the  brothel,  does  not  exist  in 
Guiana,  -or  in  the  Antilles  either  for  that  matter. 
Love  is  quite  free,  but  I  hasten  to  say  that,  in  spite 
of  that,  syphilitic  diseases  are  rather  rare. 

The  whoremonger  has  a  varied  choice  of  exotic 
flowers,  ranging  from  the  Negress  to  the  Misti,  who 
is  almost  white.  We  will  say  a  few  words  about 
each. 

The  Full-blood  Negress.  We  will  begin  with  her, 
as  she  forms  the  great  part  of  the  feminine  population, 
together  with  the  Zambra,  the  offspring  of  the  Negress 
with  the  Mulatto.  To  please  her,  and  become  her 
lover,  does  not  necessitate  any  long-  or  complicated 
proceedings.  It  suffices  (or  at  least  it  did  some  twenty 
years  ago)  to  walk  on  the  Place  des  Palmistes  after 
the  evening  meal.  You  met  a  girl,  talked  to  her  a 
bit,  and  after  a  few  commonplace  phrases,  if  her  face, 
as  seen  by  the  light  of  a  match,  pleased  you,  you  put 
the  regular  question,  "  Ch^  dondou,  ou  qua  ouU  coqu^ 
av^  moi?  "     (Darling,  where  can  you  sleep  with  me  ?) 

'   Sometimes  called  the  Octoroon. 


216  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

The  word  coque  is  a  corruption  of  the  old  French 
cocker,  that  is  to  say  expresses  the  idea  of  a  cock 
treading  a  hen.  You  had  but  to  follow  the  girl  to  a 
room  in  some  neighbouring  house.  If  need  be,  one 
of  the  benches  of  the  Place  des  Palmistes  would  afford 
you  free  hospitality. 

From  Saturday  Night  to  Sunday.  The  easy- 
g-oing  morals  of  the  Negress  and  the  Zambra  were 
often  the  cause  of  a  trick  being  played  upon  new- 
comers, who  were  unacquainted  with  the  manners  of 
the  people.  And  here  we  enter  upon  the  question  of 
the  influence  of  religion  en  morals.  I  should  here 
state,  that  at  Guiana  the  influence  of  the  priests  is 
very  great.  The  coloured  people  possess  sentiments 
of  real  piety,  even  amongst  the  men.  The  children, 
who  are  educated  by  the  monks,  are  ardent  behevers, 
and  quite  the  reverse  of  the  young  workmen  of  France. 
The  Negress  has  simple  and  sincere  faith,  but  her 
devotion  is  of  a  peculiar  kind.  She  confesses,  takes 
the  communion  nearly  every  Sunday,  and,  during  the 
week,  breaks  in  the  most  reckless  manner,  that  part 
of  the  Decalogue  which  says, 

"  Fleshly  lust  thou  shalt  desire 
In  marriage  only." 

The  priest  contents  himself  with  merely  damming 
the  current,  for  to  forbid  physical  love  to  these  warm- 
blooded creatures,  would  be  lost  labour. 

On  Saturday  evening,  absolution  is  given  before 
attending  the  Sunday  mass,  and  Saturday  evening  is 
therefore  the  time  chosen  to  play  a  joke  on  any  new- 
comer, who  is  sent  to  the  Place  des  Palmistes  to  get 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  217 

a  woman.  To  the  regular  question  the  first  twenty- 
women  or  so  will  be  sure  to  reply,  "  Mon  chd,  mo  pas 
pouv^,  mo  gain  asolutton  mon  pe  guyodo,  mats  dimain 
fini  la  messe  mo  qu^  vini  ton  case."  (My  dear,  I 
can't,  I  am  going  to  get  absolution  from  the  cure, 
but  to-morrow  after  the  mass  I  will  come  to  your 
house).  ^  Dear  creatures  !  after  having  performed  their 
duty  to  their  Creator,  they  are  ready  to  do  their  duty 
to  their  fellow-creatures.  At  last  he  will  end  by  finding 
one  who  is  ready  to  go  with  him,  and  he  will  naturally 
be  inclined  to  ask  her  why  she  is  not  going  to  get 
absolution.  "  No, "  she  will  reply  sorrowfully  "  he 
won't  give  it  me." 

"The    Queen   of  the   Golden   Wrists— Milady." 

I  have  said  that  the  fidelity  of  the  coloured  woman 
is  only  relative.  If  the  person  who  wants  her  is  in  a 
position  that  flatters  her  vanity,  or  can  serve  her 
interests,  she  will  not  hesitate  to  break  her  previous 
engagement,  if  she  believes  that  the  secret  will  be 
well  kept. 

The  surest  means  of  getting  her  is  not  to  run  after 

*  This  is  of  course  pigeon-French  but  the  same  conditions  still  exist 
in  the  remote  districts  of  Connaught  (The  wild  West  of  Ireland) : 

"  Two  elderly  Irish  dames,  residing  in  the  highly  respectable  and 
intensely  Catholic  town  of  Ballinasloe,  after  having  been  for  many  years 
bosom-friends,  were  at  daggers  drawn.  But,  mindful  of  their  Easter 
duties,  they  both  went  to  confession,  and  the  following  morning,  in 
due  course,  to  communion.  On  leaving  the  church,  after  mass,  the 
two  old  ladies  unhappily  chanced  to  knock  against  each  other — whereat 
fierce  passions  seethed  within  their  venerable  bosoms,  till  at  last  the  elder 
of  the  two  matrons,  shakmg  her  fist  at  the  other,  exclaimed :  ''  That's 
you,  Mrs.  O'Flaherty,  is  it?  and  bitter  bad  luck  to  you,  by  the  same 
token !  You  may  be  thankful  this  blessed  day  that  I  am  now  in  a 
state  of  grace,  but  plase  God,  that'll  not  last  long,  and  then  I'll  sarve 
ye  out,  ye  old  hag ! " 


218  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

her  too  ostensibly,  or  appear  too  anxious;  you  will 
attain  your  end  more  easily  by  employing  a  go-between. 
The  most  intelligent  of  these  women,  and  the  one 
who  had  the  largest  number  of  clients  in  all  Cayenne, 
was  the  celebrated  Mulatta  C***,  called  Milady,  and 
who  was  connected,  by  the  left  hand,  with  one  of  the 
best  families  in  the  country.  She  was  the  "  Queen  of 
the  Golden  Wrists ",  as  the  coloured  women  were 
called,  in  distinction  from  the  "Imperials".  The 
struggles  of  these  two  factions  reminded  one,  in  a 
minor  degree,  of  the  party  war  that  raged  between 
the  green  and  blue  coachmen  of  old  Byzantium,  but 
this  latter-day  rivalry  was  more  pacific,  and  had  never 
caused  blood  to  be  shed. 

It  was  in  their  dances  that  these  young  women  tried 
to  outdo  each  other  in  grace  and  abandon.  These 
dances  much  resembled  certain  dances  used  in  Senegal, 
and  I  will  not  therefore  describe  them  here. 

If  you  were  one  of  the  regular  customers  of  Milady, 
and  had  not  made  any  particular  choice  of  a  young 
woman,  it  was  sufficient  to  ask  her  for  a  box  of 
cigars, — light,  dark,  light-brown  or  dark-brown,  as  the 
case  might  be. 

She  would  understand,  and  at  the  hour  fixed,  would 
send  you  the  box  of  cigars  by  the  hands  of  a  Quad- 
roon, Mulatta,  Zambra.  or  Negress.  Ah,  there  were 
some  nice  girls  in  Guiana,  and,  even  now,  I  think  of 
them  with  pleasure !  But  it  is  time  to  study  them 
more  closely. 

The  Musky  Smell  of  the  Negress.  Let  us  begin 
with  the  Negress.  In  all  the  human  races,  there  are, 
of  course,  individual  differences  in  the  desire  for  the 
carnal    lusts.     But    it   may  safely  be  asserted  that  the 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  219 

Negress  of  Guiana  is  certain  to  have  warm  blood,  and 
a  strong-  desire  for  intercourse  with  the  male.  She 
receives  him  with  the  most  lively  pleasure,  and  does 
all  she  can  to  satisfy  him, — particularly  if  she  has  to 
do  with  a  Massogan,  or  White  man  from  Europe,  — 
but  she  has  no  vicious  or  depraved  habits.  She  per- 
forms a  natural  act  naturally,  and  without  any  of  the 
refinements  of  the  prostitutes  of  our  great  cities,  or  of 
the  Annamite  Congai.  She  shows  a  horror  of  sodomy. 
She  is  clean,  one  might  say,  morally  and  physically. 
If  she  does  not  take  baths,  she  at  least  washes  herself 
frequently,  and  the  poor  girl  has  a  very  good  reason 
for  these  ablutions.  That  reason  is  that  all  the  black 
race, — I  may  say  once  for  all,  not  to  have  to  repeat 
it, — has  a  very  fine  skin  which  perspires  abundantly, 
and  gives  forth  an  indefinable  odour  sui  generis,  which 
reminds  one  slightly  of  the  musky  smell  of  the  croco- 
dile. ^  This  influence  is  particularly  noticeable  when 
she  is  excited  by  sexual  passions,  and  is  annoying  to 
beginners  who  are  not  accustomed  to  it,  but  you  end 
by  getting  used  to  it.  The  Negress  therefore  anoints 
herself  plentifully  with  all  the  strongest  perfumes  from 
Europe,  in  order  to  conceal  her  native  smell,  and  she 

*  In  the  animal  kingdom  various  odours  and  sounds  are  closely 
connected  with  the  reproduction  of  the  species.  During  the  season  of 
love  a  musky  odour  is  emitted  by  the  submaxillary  glands  of  the  croc- 
odile, and  pervades  its  haunts.  At  the  same  period  the  anal  scent-glands 
of  snakes  are  in  active  function,  and  so  are  the  corresponding  glands  of 
the  lizards.  Many  mammals  are  odoriferous.  In  some  cases  the  odour 
appears  to  serve  as  a  defence  or  a  protection,  but  in  other  species  the 
glands  are  confined  to  the  males,  and  almost  always  become  more  active 
during  the  rutting  season. 

Westermarck  "  The  History  of  Human  Marriage^(^.  246,  London,  1 894). 

See  the  Excursus  at  end  of  this  Chapter  for  fuller  information  on 
this  head. 


220  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS  OF 

always  keeps  herself  very  clean.  But  in  any  case  her 
peculiar  odour  is  not  so  repugnant  as  that  of  the 
Congai. 

The  Genital  Organs  of  the  Negro  Race.     Her 

odour,  however,  is  but  the  least  fault  of  the  Negress. 
Her  greatest  disadvantage  is  the  immense  size  of  her 
vulva  and  vagina.  In  all  the  human  races  there  is  a 
close  connection  or  proportion  between  the  male  and 
female  genital  organs.  I  have  already  remarked  this 
in  reference  to  the  Cochin-Chinese.  Now,  in  no  branch 
of  the  human  race  are  the  male  organs  more  developed 
than  in  the  African  Negro.  I  am  speaking  of  the 
penis  only,  and  not  of  the  testicules,  which  are  often 
smaller  than  those  of  the  majority  of  Europeans.  The 
result  of  this  conformation  is,  that  a  Negress,  though 
suitably  provided  to  receive  the  Negro,  is  far  too  wide 
for  the  White  man,  especially  if  he  is  but  moderately 
furnished,  or  "  half  cooked "  as  Rabelais  might  say. 
The  Negress  therefore, — being  very  desirous  of  the 
favours  of  the  White  man, — uses  astringent  prepara- 
tions to  strengthen  the  mucous  surfaces  and  tighten 
the  entrance  of  the  vulva.  The  preparation  which  ap- 
peared to  me  to  be  the  most  used,  was  made  of  acajou 
nuts  (an  astringent)  macerated  in  spirit,  and  mixed 
with  tormentilla  root,  and  vanilla  beans  (for  perfume). 
A  few  spoonfuls  of  this  liquid,  mixed  with  water,  form 
a  lotion,  which,  when  applied  frequently,  enables  the 
desired  result  to  be  almost  obtained. 

Physiological  Peculiarity  of  the  Colour  of  the 
Gland  in  the  Negro.  The  penis  of  the  Negro  aflfords 
a  physiological  peculiarity,  as  do  also  the  mucous 
surfaces    of   the    lips    and   the   vulva  in    the   Negress. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  221 

The  colour  is  as  black  as  that  of  the  rest  of  the  skin. 
It  is  not  the  same  with  the  Negro  of  Oceania,  as  we 
shall  see  later.  The  peculiarity  is  absolutely  special  to 
the  African  Negro,  and  his  descendants  who  have  been 
brought  as  slaves  to  America.  The  mucous  surface  of 
the  gland  and  the  foreskin  vary,  in  the  European,  from 
a  pale  pink  to  a  bright  red,  and  it  is  therefore  not 
without  a  certain  feeling  of  curiosity,  that  one  examines 
for  the  first  time  the  genital  organ  of  the  Negro,  and 
remarks  the  uniform  black  colour  of  the  skin  and  the 
mucous  surfaces.  The  vulva  of  the  Negress  is  black 
at  the  entrance,  but  becomes  a  bright  red  in  the 
vagina.  It  is  the  same  with  the  lips  and  the  mouth 
in  both  sexes.  The  pubes  is  scantily  furnished  with 
hair,  short  and  hard  as  the  bristles  of  a  brush.  As  to 
the  head,  everybody  knows  that  that  is  covered  with 
a  woolly  crop.  The  Negress  of  Cayenne  always  wears 
on  her  head  a  large  handkerchief  of  striped  silk,  and 
the  gallant  who  took  it  off,  and  passed  his  hand  through 
her  hair,  would  not  find  his  caresses  well  received. 

The  Genital  Organ  of  the  Zambro.  The  Zambro 
is  the  offspring  of  the  Negress  and  the  Mulatto. 
Although  one  quarter  of  their  blood  is  white,  the 
Zambro  and  the  Zambra  differ  very  little  from  their 
black  ancestors.  The  Zambro  especially  is  almost  a 
Negro,  so  far  as  his  genital  organ  is  concerned.  The 
skin  of  the  member,  and  of  the  scrotum,  is  a  dark 
sepia  colour,  and  the  skin  of  the  body  is  sepia  colour. 
The  mucous  surface  of  the  gland  is  of  a  reddish  sepia. 
The  hair  of  the  pubes  is  like  that  of  the  Negro. 

The  Genital  Organ  of  the  Mulatto.  The  Mulatto 
commences   to    approach    nearer   to    the    White.      The 


222  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

skin  of  the  body  varies  from  a  light  brownish  yellow 
to  a  darker  tint  of  the  same  hue.  This  tint  is  formed 
of  sepia,  gamboge,  and  vermihon.  The  skin  of  the 
scrotum  and  the  member  is  darker  than  the  rest  of  the 
body,  but  the  mucous  surface  of  the  gland  is  of  a 
dirty  reddish-brown.  The  hair  of  the  pubes  is  more 
plentiful,  and  more  resembles  the  European,  but  is 
always  stiff,  and  generally  very  black ;  there  are  some 
exceptions  of  which  I  will  mention  one.  I  attended 
medically  a  young  Mulatto  and  his  sister,  w^ho  had 
been  begotten  by  a  father  with  carroty  red  hair. 
The  girl  had  red  and  smooth  hair,  the  skin  fairly  Hght, 
with  here  and  there  patches  of  red,  and  the  hair  of 
the  pubes  a  dark  russet,  with  the  mucous  tissues  of 
the  lips  and  the  vulva,  dark  red.  Her  brother,  on  the 
contrary,  had  a  skin  not  so  light,  the  hair  and  the 
tufts  of  the  pubes  black,  but  the  member,  which  was 
very  much  developed,  had  a  gland  of  a  deep  brown 
colour,  with  the  scrotum  sepia  colour. 

In  size,  the  genital  organs  of  the  Mulatto  are  less 
developed,  as  concerns  the  penis  at  least,  than  in  the 
Negro.  The  testicles  on  the  other  hand  are  a  little 
larger.  As  a  logical  consequence,  the  vulva  and  vagina 
of  the  Mulatta  are  not  so  wide  and  gaping  as  those 
of  the  Negress,  though  larger  than  those  of  the  Euro- 
pean woman. 

Often  in  the  same  family  there  are  great  differences 
between  the  children  of  the  same  White  father  and 
the  Negress.  The  girls  generally  have  a  fairer  skin 
than  the  boys,  the  mucous  tissues  are  redder,  and  their 
hair  is  not  so  woolly.  The  white  blood  predominates. 
It  is  just  the  opposite  with  the  boy.  There  are  many 
exceptions  to  the  rule ;  sometimes,  by  a  singular  phe- 
nomenon   of  atavism,    you   may    find  Octoroons  much 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  223 

darker  than  tlieir  mother,  and  almost  Mulattos.  But 
unite  the  Zambro  with  the  White  man,  or  the  Mulatto 
with  the  Quadroon  woman,  and  there  will  result  from 
these  admixtures,  irregnlar  crossings  whose  physical 
characteristics  will  approach  to,  or  recede  from,  those 
of  the  white  race.  In  the  first  case,  there  are  five 
parts  white  against  three  black;  in  the  second  the 
proportion  is  the  same,  and  nevertheless  the  two  types 
are  quite  dissimilar. 

EXCURSUS  TO  CHAPTER  11. 

Medical  notes  on  the  Sexual  Value  of  Smell. 

This  subject  alluded  to  in  several  places  in  the  text 
merits  perhaps  some  confirmation,  and  we  therefore 
add  the  following  extracts  from  well-known  scientific 
writers.  We  think  it  preferable  to  give  these  notes 
here  to  putting  them  in  smaller  types  at  the  foot  of 
various  pages,  as  in  the  present  form  they  are  much 
easier  to  read  and  consult. 

Dislike  of  Urnings  to  the  odor  fcemina.     The 

physical  repugnance  of  true  Urnings  for  women  may 
be  illustrated  by  passages  from  Krafft-Ebing's  cases 
(pp.   117,   123,   163)  which  I  will  translate. 

(i).  "I  had  observed  that  a  girl  was  madly  in  love 
with  me.  and  longed  intensely  to  give  herself  up  to 
me.  I  gave  her  an  assignation  in  my  house,  hoping 
that  I  should  better  succeed  with  a  girl  who  sought 
me  out  of  love,  than  I  had  with  public  women.  After 
her  first  fiery  caresses,  I  did  indeed  feel  a  little  less 
frigid ;  but  when  it  came  to  thinking  about  copulation, 
all  was  over — the  same  stark  frost  set  in,  and  my  part 


224  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS    OF 

was  played  out.  I  sent  her  away,  deeply  excited, 
with  some  moral  remarks;  and  I  have  never  tried  the 
experiments  again.  On  all  of  these  occasions  the 
specific  odour  of  the  female  added  to  my  horror. 

(2)  "  The  proximity  of  wenches  aroused  in  me  qualms 
and  nausea ;  in  particular  I  could  not  bear  the  smell 
of  them." 

(3)  "  It  seems  to  me  absurd  to  set  up  the  female 
form  as  the  prototype  of  human  beauty,  I  regard  a 
woman's  person  as  displeasing,  the  formation  of  her 
hips  as  ugly  and  unsesthetic.  Dancing  is  therefore  an 
abomination  to  me.  /  loathe  the  odour  which  the  so- 
called  fair  sex  exhales  when  heated  by  the  dance. 
The  disgust  inspired  in  these  three  Urnings  by  the 
smell  of  the  female  is  highly  significant ;  since  we 
know  that  the  sense  of  smell  acts  powerfully  upon  the 
sexual  appetite  of  normal  individuals.  It  may  be 
remarked  in  all  the  instances  of  pronounced  Urnings, 
sexual  congress  with  women  seems  to  have  been  fol- 
lowed by  disgust,  nervous  exhaustion,  and  the  sense 
of  an  unnatural  act  performed  without  pleasure.  This 
is  true  even  of  those  who  have  brought  themselves 
to  marriage." 

A  PROBLEM  IN  MODERN  ETHICS  (pp.  54—55). 

London,   1896. 

(Since  the  death  of  John  Addington  Symonds,  the 
talented  author  of  the  "-Renaissance  in  Italy'',  this 
work  has  been  formally  attributed  to  him.  (  Vide  Have- 
lock-Ellis  on  '' Sexital  Inversion""). 

Odor  Fcemina  and  Sexuality: — Zippe  {Wien. 
Med.  Wochenschrift,  1879,  Nr.  ^4),  in  connection  with 
a  case  of  kleptomania  in  an  onanist,  likewise  establishes 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  225 

such  relations,  and  cites  Hildebrand  as  authority,  who 
in  his  popular  physiology  says :  "  It  cannot  be  doubted 
that  the  olfactory  sense  stands  in  remote  connection 
with  the  sexual  apparatus.  Odours  of  flowers  often 
occasion  pleasurable  sensual  feelings,  and  when  one 
remembers  the  passage  in  the  'Song  of  Solomon', 
'And  my  hands  dropped  with  myrrh  and  my  fingers 
with  sweet-smelling  myrrh  upon  the  handles  of  the 
lock ',  one  finds  that  it  did  not  escape  Solomon's 
observation.  In  the  Orient,  the  pleasant  perfumes  are 
esteemed  for  their  relation  to  the  sexual  organs,  and 
the  women's  apartments  of  the  Sultan  are  filled  with 
the  perfumes  of  flower sJ" 

Most,  professor  in  Rostock  (comp.  Zippe),  relates: 
"  I  learned  from  a  sensual  young  peasant  that  he  had 
excited  many  a  chaste  girl  sexually,  and  easily  gained 
his  end,  by  carrying  his  handkerchief  in  his  axilla  for 
a  time,  while  dancing,  and  then  wiping  his  partner's 
perspiring  face  with  it." 

The  case  of  Henry  III  shows  that  contact  with  a 
person's  perspiration  may  be  the  exciting  cause  of 
passionate  love.  At  the  betrothal  feast  of  the  King 
of  Navarre  and  Margaret  of  Valois,  he  accidentally 
dried  his  face  with  a  garment  of  Maria  of  Cleves, 
which  was  moist  with  her  perspiration.  Although  she 
was  the  bride  of  the  Prince  of  Conde,  Henry  conceived 
immediately  such  a  passionate  love  for  her  that  he 
could  not  resist  it,  and  made  her,  as  history  shows, 
very  unhappy.  An  analogous  instance  is  related  of 
Henry  IV,  whose  passion  for  the  beautiful  Gabrielle  is 
said  to  have  originated  at  the  instant  when,  at  a  ball, 
he  wiped  his  brow  with  her  handkerchief. 

Professor  Jager,  the  "discoverer  of  the  soul",  refers 
to   the   same  thing    in    his  well-known  book  (2nd  ed., 


226  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS    OF 

1880,  chap.  XV,  p.  173);  for  he  regards  the  sweat  as 
important  in  the  production  of  sexual  effects  and  as 
being  especially  seductive. 

One  learns  from  reading  the  work  of  Ploss  ("  Das 
Weib  "),  that  attempts  to  attract  a  person  of  the  op- 
posite sex  by  means  of  the  perspiration  may  be  dis- 
cerned in  many  forms  in  popular  psychology.  In 
reference  to  this,  a  custom  which  holds  among  the 
natives  of  the  Philippine  Islands  when  they  become 
engaged,  as  reported  by  Jager,  is  remarkable.  When 
it  becomes  necessary  for  the  engaged  pair  to  separate, 
they  exchange  articles  of  wearing  apparel,  by  means 
of  which  each  becomes  assured  of  faithfulness.  These 
objects  are  carefully  preserved,  covered  with  kisses, 
and  smelled. 

The  love  of  certain  libertines  and  sensual  women  for 
perfumes  indicates  a  relation  between  the  olfactory 
and  sexual  senses. 

The  following  case,  reported  by  Binet,  seems  to  be 
in  opposition  to  this  idea.  Unfortunately  nothing  is 
said  concerning  the  mental  characteristics  of  the  per- 
son. In  any  event,  it  is  certainly  confirmatory  of  the 
relations  existing  between  the  olfactory  and  sexual 
senses: — D.,  a  medical  student,  w^as  seated  on  a  bench 
in  a  public  park,  reading  a  book  (on  pathology). 
Suddenly  a  violent  erection  disturbed  him.  He  looked 
up  and  noticed  that  a  lady,  redolent  with  perfume, 
had  taken  a  seat  upon  the  other  end  of  the  bench. 
D.,  could  attribute  the  erection  to  nothing  but  the  un- 
conscious olfactory  impression  made  upon  him. 

(  Vide,  Kraft  Ebbing's  (pages  26 — 28)"  PSYCHOPATHIA 
Sexualis  "  with  especial  reference  to  Contrary  Sexual 
Instinct:  A  Medico-Legal  STUDY. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  227 

Authorized  translation  of  the  seventh  enlarged  and 
revised  German  edition,  by  Charles  Gilbert  Chad- 
dock,  M.D.     {Philadelphia  and  London,   1895.) 

The  odour  of  nudity.  Lombroso  says : — "Civiliza- 
tion gave  birth  to  false  modesty  when  it  suppressed 
nudity,  and  habits  of  cleanliness  attenuated  that  peculiar 
smell  of  the  body,  which,  exhaled  by  the  female  at- 
tracted the  male.  The  attracting  attributes  depending 
on  sight  and  especially  on  tact,  now  developed  them- 
selves and  transformed  the  feminine  maternal  organs 
(lips  and  breasts)  into  erotic  organs." 

La  Femyne  Criminelle  (page   112),  Paris,   1896. 

["  It  is  also  remarkable  that  many  animals  (musk- 
ox,  civet-cat,  beaver)  possess  glands  near  their  sexual 
organs,  which  produce  secretions  having  a  very  strong 
odour.] 

The  influence  of  age  on  the  odor  foeminoe.  ^     It 

is  unnecessary  for  us  to  tell  our  readers,  that  it  is 
more  agreable  to  sniff  the  odour  of  a  rose  or  that  of 
a  bunch  of  violets  between  two  fresh  Normandy 
pippins,  than  when  enclosed  between  two  dried  figs 
of  the  desert  of  Sahara. 

Thence  comes  the  unhealthy  lubricity  of  certain  old 
men  who  pay  with  gold,  the  freshest  breasts  in  order 
to  soil  them  Iccherously  with  their  impure  and  dis- 
gusting slaver :  here  is  a  clear  case  of  high-treason 
against  humanity,  particularly  if  these  pretty  Magde- 

'  For  this  note  and  the  following  we  are  indebted  to  DR.  Aug. 
Galopin's  little  book  entitled :  Le  Parfum  de  la  Fenime  et  le  Sens 
Olfactif  dans  V Amour.  Etude psycho-physiolog-iqtte  [Paus,  Dcnfn,  1889). 


228  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF 

burg    hemispheres   resemble  those  the  glory  and  love 
of  which  were  so  aptly  sung  by  Victor  Hugo: 

"Jeanne  est  nee  a  Foiigere 
Vrai  nid  d'une  berg^re, 
J'adore  son  jupon 

Fripon. 
Amour,  tu  vis  en  elle, 
Car  c'est  dans  sa  prunelle 
Que  tu  caches  ton  carquois, 

Narquois. 
Moi,  je  chante  et  j'aime, 
Plus  que  Diane  meme, 
Jeanne  et  ses  durs  tetons 

Bretons." 

The  odor  fcemince  has  like  woman's  Hfe,  three  great 
natural  phases: 

(i)  the  period  of  puberty; 

{2)  the  period  of  marriage; 

(3)  the  period  of  the  menopausis. 

Old  age  is  seldom  apparent,  in  women  of  the  world 
before  the  age  of  sixty. 

After  she  has  passed  her  fifteenth  olympiad,  woman 
has  no  longer  any  age  and  still  remains  beautiful,  if 
she  has  the  wit  to   know  how  to  grow  old. 

The  odour  emitted  by  old  women  is  sometimes  very 
pleasant,  resembling  that  of  dried  rose-leaves,  of  iris 
and  of  the  faded  flowers  of  the  lime-tree. 

As  for  young  girls,  they  almost  always  smell  agree- 
ably, their  odour  is  pleasing  and  awakens  no  carnal 
desire. 

However,  the  Song  of  So7igs  teaches  us  that  all 
meat  was  game  to  that  old  polisson  Solomon.  Listen 
to  what  Cloquet  says :  "  At  the  moment  of  puberty, 
young  virgins  sometimes  shed  around  them  a  perfume 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  229 

that  the  poets  of  all  ages  have  not  failed  to  celebrate, 
and  that  the  author  of  the  Song  of  Songs  has  exalted 
with  an  enthusiasm,  which  may  be  still,  though  rarely, 
understood  in  our  days." 

The  idea  of  the  Odor  Foeminog  could  naturally  not 
escape  the  observant  mind  of  Zola  who  said :  "  Every 
thing  exhaled  an  odour  of  woman..." 

..."He  smelt  this  woman's  shoulders  the  fragrance 
of  which  intoxicated  him." 

It  is  incontestable  that  it  is  during  youth  that  these 
olfactive  impressions  are  most  vivid.  But  it  cannot  be 
denied  that  they  give  a  calm  and  legitimate  pleasure 
at  every  age,  even  to  octogenarians,  of  whose  long 
and  active  life  there  remain  only  memories. 

This  reminds  us  of  the  words  of  an  illustrious  and 
estimable  old  man,  Cremieux,  who  honoured  us  with 
his  affection  and  who,  on  the  day  after  the  death  of 
his  dearly  loved  partner,  said  to  us  in  his  house  at 
Passy : 

"  My  dear  boy,  this  atmosphere,  so  full  of  her,  will 
soon  choke  me,  now  that  she  will  return  no  more  to 
renew  the  life  of  it..." 

And  a  few  days  later,  this  noble  old  friend  died  of 
grief  and  of  /iu?iger,  because  he  would  not  live  any 
longer   without  her. 

The  awakening  of  erotic  ideas.  This  is  what 
one  of  the  most  eminent  contemporary  physiologists, 
Professor  Longet,  says  on  the  subject: 

"  The  olfactory  sense  interv^enes  with  some  people 
to  awaken  venereal  desire.  There  are  certain  men 
who  find,  in  the  influence  exercised  by  the  odour  of 
the  vulva  on  the  pituitary  membrane,  the  principle  of 
very  erotic  dispositions.     The  smell  of  man  also,  awakens 


230  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

in  some  ardent  women,  the  wish  for  pleasure.  Here, 
memory  and  imagination  must  largely  contribute:  is 
it  not  the  same  with  regard  to  the  ardent  impression 
produced,  particularly  during  youth,  by  the  atmosphere 
exhaled  by  certain  women,  whose  garments  even  retain 
the  breath  of  voluptuousness  after  they  have  quitted 
them? 

"  Among  animals,  the  connection  between  the  olfac- 
tory and  the  genital  organs  is  as  incontestable  as  it  is 
intimate.  When  they  are  in  heat,  individuals  of  the 
same  species  are  forced  mutually  to  seek  each  other ; 
they  therefore  require  a  means  of  finding  each  other, 
a  means  of  excitation,  and  nature  is  careful  to  make 
the  sexual  organs  of  most  of  them  exhale,  at  this 
moment,  a  strong  and  special  odour.  Nothing  in  fact 
could  more  effectually  serve  this  purpose  than  these  ema- 
nations spread  far  around  by  the  atmospheric  currents. " 

Of  course  the  odour  of  the  vulva,  alluded  to  by 
Longet,  is  the  smell  peculiar  to  the  special  liquid 
secreted  by  the  glandular  regions  of  that  organ,  and 
the  more  or  less  unpleasant  odours  engendered  by  the 
state  of  uncleanliness  in  which  the  said  organ  may 
have  been  kept,  have  no  connection  with  the  animal 
emanations  with  which  we  have  to  do. 

Animals,  bitches  for  instance,  are  careful  to  clean 
themselves  when  they  are  in  heat.  Bitches  that  are 
unclean  find  few  or  no  gallants,  with  the  exception  of 
some  dogs  whose  olfactory  sense  has  become  vitiated, 
examples  of  which  depravation  are  frequently  to  be 
met  with  in  the  human  species. 

Certain  ardent  women,  gifted  with  a  warm  imagina- 
tion, are  usually  highly  perfumed.  The  temperature 
of  their  body  generally  increases  almost  instantaneously, 
to  the  extent  of  from   i°.8  to  3°.6  degrees  Fahrenheit, 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  231 

under  the  masculine  attack.  This  increase  of  heat 
induces  a  considerable  development  of  odorous  vapours 
which  envelop  their  lovers  in  a  perfumed  atmosphere 
which  completes  their  intoxication,  soldering  their 
affections  and  their  souls:  such  women  are  sure  of 
being  loved. 

There  are  others,  often  more  beautiful  to  the  eye, 
who  may  be  looked  at,  admired  even  and,  who,  not- 
withstanding, are  not  smelt .  .  .  are  not  loved.  They 
tire  and  repel  to  the  tedium  of  monotony. 

This  explains  those  couplings,  inexplicable  to  the 
ignorant  vulgar  public,  between  one  of  those  whom 
it  is  agreed  to  call  handsoinc  lads  (though  nothing 
is  uglier  than  a  man  who  thinks  himself  handsome) ; 
and  a  woman  whose  face  and  whose  body  even  have 
nothing  of  classical   plasticity. 

Such  a  woman,  vanquished  to-day  in  a  first  meeting, 
by  one  more  beautiful  than  herself,  will  triumph  to-morrow, 
over  the  prettiest  of  her  sex,  thanks  to  the  magical 
power  she  exercises  by  her  odour.  She  magnetizes 
the  atmosphere.  ^ 

It  often  occurs,  that  the  same  handsome  fellow  who 
had  neglected  her  in  the  morning  will  be  madly  in  love 
with  her  in  the  evening.  And  all  the  other  women, 
becoming  jealous,  exclaim : 

"  But  what  particular  charm  has  she  about  her,  with 
her  head   one  way,  and  her  shoulders  another?  " 

*  Wilkes,  the  last  century  agitator,  and  one  of  the  ugliest  men  of  his 
time  was  given  to  boast  that  he  would,  with  an  hour's  start,  compete  with 
the  handsomest  man  agoing  for  the  favours  of  a  beautiful  woman — and 
win.  His  magnetism  was  attributed  to  his  conversational  powers.  But 
may  it  not  have  been  due  to  some  such  cause  as  above  outlined? 

The  case  of  the  Princess  de  Chimay  {Miss  Clara  IV'ard)  and  the 
uneducated,  gypsy  musician,  the  violinist  of  a  Paris  caf6 — Rigo,  is  too 
well  known  to  need  mention. 


232  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

She  has  this  .  .  .  that  the  odour  she  emanates  is 
pleasant  to  the  nostrils  of  men!  That  is  what  she 
has !  And  tliis  quality,  together  with  wit,  suffices  to 
the  woman  who  likes  the  society  of  men  and  is  her- 
self fond  of  man.  Talent,  in  a  woman  of  good  taste, 
does  not  alone  consist  in  knowing  how  to  choose  the 
most  delicate  perfumes ;  it  consists,  mainly,  in  knowing 
how  to  choose  that  which  amplifies,  without  in  any 
way  perverting,  the  natural  odour  peculiar  to  herself: 
in  this  there  is  a  secret  difficult  to  divulge  openly ; 
but  it  suffices  to  draw  your  attention  to  it  to  enable 
you  to  overcome  all  the  difficulties  connected  therewith. 
If  woman  knows  so  many  things,  it  is  because  she 
can  guess  at  all  that  is  hidden  from  her. 

Celine  Montaland  (the  celebrated  actress),  so  beautiful 
and  so  dangerously  perfumed,  was  she  not  always  one  of 
the  most  seriously  and  legitimately  beloved  of  women  ? 

Animals  can  never  converse  together,  and,  yet,  they 
well  know  how  to  mark  their  preferences :  do  they  not 
fight  each  other  to  the  death,  as  we  do,  to  preserve 
to  themselves  their  favourite? 

The  nasal  pituitary  gland  is  the  powerful  laboratory 
in  which  are  elaborated  the  living  particles  that  detach 
themselves  from  the  beloved  being,  and  which,  by  the 
medium  of  the  brain,  are  destined  to  be  assimilated 
to  the  entire  organism. 

The  purest  marriage  that  can  be  contracted  between 
man  and  woman  is  that  which  is  engendered  by  olfaction 
and  finds  its  sanction  by  common  assimilation,  in  the 
encephalon,  of  the  living  molecules  proceeding  from 
the  evaporation  of  two  bodies  in  contact  and  which 
sympathise  together. 

The  intoxication  of  confessors  and  of  female  peni- 
tents has  no  other  cause. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  233 

In  all  ages  of  the  Church,  it  is  the  perfume  of  vir- 
gins that  has  always  intoxicated  priests  and  given  rise 
to  the  immorality  of  the  confessional,  as  well  for 
youth  filled  with  desire  as  for  musing  and  sighing 
old  age. 

Males  throwTi  off  the  scent  as  to  the  odour  of 
their  females   during   the    act  of  copulation.     In 

the  stables  of  cattle-breeders,  female  animals  are  often 
met  with  that  cannot  be  fecundated;  among  cows  par- 
ticularly, to  which  the  French  then  give  the  name  of 
"  Robinicrcs  ".  This  results,  among  other  causes,  from 
the  greater  or  less  degree  of  antipathy  which  exists 
between  the  two  individuals,  and  mostly  on  account 
of  the  antipathy  of  the  male  for  the  female.  The  bull 
commences  a  work  that  he  is  unable  to  finish:  there 
is  fraud. 

This  antipathy  can  be  overcome  by  dissimulating 
the  particular  smell  of  the  female,  aromatizing  certain 
parts  of  her  body,  directly  involved,  in  order  to  deceive 
the  male;  or  at  least,  to  momentarily  attenuate  the 
emanations  from  the  female  which  were  offensive  to 
him,  and  repelled  him. 

In  the  case  of  mares,  very  strong  infusions  of  espar- 
cet  (French  honey-suckle),  wild  thyme  (Thymus  ser- 
pylum),   sage  and  other  aromatic  herbs  are  employed. 

Weak  injections,  penetrating  but  slightly,  and  directed 
towards  the  sides  of  the  canal  of  the  female,  are  some- 
times used  to  dissimulate  or  to  attenuate  the  peculiar 
scent  proceeding  from  the  secretions  of  the  vaginal 
glands. 

For  cows,  infusions  of  all  sorts  of  green  herbs  suffice ; 
for  rabbits,  infusions  of  white  nettle  or  of  wild  thyme. 

With  certain   females  destined   to   the  reproduction 


234  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS    OF 

of  hybrids,  it  is  sometimes  necessary  to  blindfold  the 
male  and  to  impregnate  the  female  he  is  expected  to 
cover,  with  the  natural  scent  of  a  preferred  female  of 
his  own  species. 

The  female  stranger  is  made  to  inhabit  for  several 
days  the  same  stable  with  the  sultana,  and  next  to  her. 
Immediately  before  the  moment  of  copulation  the  pro- 
ducts of  the  female  secretions  destined  to  throw  the 
male  off  the  scent  are  removed  to  the  field  of  action, 
he  being  blindfolded  so  that  it  is  impossible  for  him 
to  see  the  concubine  that  is  substituted  for  his  legiti- 
mate partner.  Very  often,  in  this  case,  the  illusion  is 
sufficiently  complete  to  deceive  the  animal. 

If  however  the  male  entertains  a  doubt  of  the  fraud, 
the  stranger  must  be  removed  and  the  preferred  mare 
made  to  take  her  place ;  he  is  then  led  to  smell  her, 
and  the  first  one  promptly  substituted  as  soon  as  the 
illusion  seems  to  be  sufficiently  complete,  and  the 
moment  at  hand. 

This  is  very  difficult  to  accomplish  and  no  detail 
must  be  neglected. 

Another  method  was  to  make  the  stallions  breathe 
certain  odours  in  the  stable,  before  leading  them  to 
the  mares  that  are  distasteful  to  them,  but  it  did  not 
succeed,  except  after  impregnating  the  female  with 
the  odours  of  the  stable,  by  making  her  live  several 
days  in  that  of  the  stallion,  before  the  final  bringing 
together. 

When  the  sense  of  smell  is  perverted  in  a  stallion, 
it  makes  him  lose  three  fourths  of  his  ardour.  Some 
animals,  indeed,  then  fall  into  a  state  of  relative  impo- 
tency,  which  becomes  absolute  if  there  is  complete 
obliteration  of  the  olfactory  faculties,  which  to  them 
are  the  most  powerful  excitants  to  sexual  pleasure. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  235 

With  man,  a  momentary  or  chronic  coryza  provokes 
similar  accidents  but  not  in  so  striking  a  manner. 

Oliva  recommends  civet  as  useful  to  excite  the 
sexual  desire  in  some  animals.  The  smell  of  it  makes 
caged  nightingales  sing.  "Fragrant  odours,"  says  he, 
"  stimulate  animals  to  sing,  by  increasing  their  amorous 
tendencies. " 

We  have  it  on  excellent  authority  ^  that  there  was 
a  monk  in  Prague,  who  could  not  only  recognize  by 
their  smell  different  persons,  but  also  distinguish  a 
chaste  girl  or  woman  from  those  that  were  not.  What 
admirable  precision,  and  in  how  vast  afield  of  experi- 
ment must  not  the  good  monk  have  made  his  odorous 
and  more  or  less  savoury  investigations! 

Doctor  Monin,  in  his  curious  and  useful  study  of  the 
odours  of  the  human  body  {Les  odeurs  du  corps 
humain),  adds:  "the  thing  is  not  very  difficult,  we 
know  a  certain  ladies'  physician  who  can  admirably 
detect  by  smell,  and  without  ever  making  a  mis- 
take, when  any  of  his  clients  have  their  menstrual 
periods." 

Baruel  senior  could  perfectly  distinguish  by  scent 
the  blood  of  a  man  from  that  of  a  woman,  attributing 
the   difference  in  smell  to  certain  volatile  fatty  acids. 

According  to  the  accounts  of  travellers,  the  North 
American  Indians  can  follow  by  scent  the  track  of 
their  prey  or  of  their  enemies  {De  la  Honian,  La 
Haye,    17 15). 

It  would  appear  that  the  Mongol  and  the  negro 
races,  by  reason  of  the  amplitude  of  their  nasal  cavi- 
ties, are  endowed  with  a  finer  and  more  extended 
sense  of  smell  than  European  peoples.     Among  Asia- 

*  The  Journal  des  Savants,  Paris,  1864,  referiinj;  to  the  LEuvres 
de  Lecat,  Paris,    1767,  (vol.  II,  p.   257). 


236  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

tics,  the  Kalmucks  are  noted,  for  the  extraordinary 
fineness  of  their  olfactory  powers. 

Remarkable  examples  of  the  delicacy  of  this  sense 
among  negroes  are  also  recorded:  some  of  them  are 
said  to  be  able  to  distinguish  the  track  of  a  white 
man  from  that  of  a  negro,  and  can  also  follow  the 
scent  of  those  of  their  unfortunate  comrades  who,  to 
escape  slavery,  have  fled  to  the  forest. 

Lecat  relates  a  very  curious  case :  "  A  boy  who  got 
lost  was  brought  up  in  the  woods  which  he  never 
quitted.  His  sense  of  smell  was  so  finely  developed 
that  he  knew  of  the  approach  of  enemies,  men  or 
animals.  Having  later  on  returned  to  civilized  life,  all 
his  olfactory  power  was  retained  intact  by  him.  He 
married,  and  could  always  follow  his  wife  by  her  scent. 

This  is  a  husband  who  .  . .  very  luckily  has  not  one 
like  him  in  Paris. 

Already,  in  1789,  Haller,  in  his  Elementa  physiolo- 
gicB,  Lausanne,  4to,  t.  V,  p.  162,  had  studied  the  sensa- 
tions that  are  produced  by  odours.  He  divided  them 
into  agreeable,  disagreeable,  and  indifferent,  or  mixed. 

This  classification  being  too  arbitrary,  does  not  deserv'e 
serious  consideration. 

What  are  in  fact  the  odours  that  are  agreeable  and 
those  which  are  not? 

Those  which  please  some  people  are  displeasing  to 
others;  those  which  restore  animation  in  some  women, 
will  provoke  alarming  syncopes,  or  intense  nervous 
irritability,  in  others. 

We  need  go  no  further:  a  perfume  that  pleases  at 
noon,  may  at  midnight  be  displeasing  to  the  same 
individual. 

Therefore  Haller's  classification  is  totally  wanting  in 
scientific  character. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  237 

All  our  elegant  lady  readers  know  that  the  inof- 
fensive cigarette  which  they  smoke  from  taste  or  for 
fashion,  when  they  are  well,  is  distasteful  to  them  when 
a  slight  attack  of  sick  head-ache  seizes  them  after 
keeping  too  late  hours,  or  on  the  occasion  of  a  little 
fatigue,  nervousness,  offended  pride  or  lovers  quarrel, 
and  so  forth  . .  . 

The  olfactory  sense  is  very  capricious,  very  change- 
able .  .  .  particularly  in  those  spoilt  children,  but  our 
charmers  still,  who  have  learned  how  to  conquer  the 
right  to  command,  while  at  the  same  time  seeming  to 
be  obeying  our  will. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Eroticism  of  the  Negress  and  the  colotcred  rvoviaji.  —  The  sexual 
passions  of  the  Negress.— Methods  of  copulation.  —  The  Midatta 
and  the  Quadroon.  —  Their  ivarm  passions.  —Astringent  i7ijections. 
— Aphrodisiac  drinks.  — The  aubergine  enragee.  —  The  Octoroon 
girl. —  Perversions  of  sexual  passions  in  the  Negro  and  coloured 
races. — Dislike  of  the  Negress  for  sodomy  and  other  filthy  acts,— 
Depraved  passion  of  the    White  man  for  the  Negress. 


Eroticism  of  the  Negress.— Methods  of  Copula- 
tion. The  Negress  is  usually  of  a  passionate  nature 
and  does  not  care  to  waste  time  in  trifles.  I  shall 
speak  later  on  of  the  aubergine,  and  the  aphrodisiac 
drinks  that  she  gives  her  lovers  to  excite  their  ardour, 
but  she  knows  of  no  "refinements",  and  accomplishes 
the  carnal  act  with  brutal  simplicity,  and  generally  in 
regulation  position.  This  is  known  at  Cayenne  by 
the  name  of  "counting  the  shingle  pegs",  because,  in 
tliis  position,  the  woman  has  her  eyes  fixed  on  the 
ceiling,  and  can  thus  count  the  pegs  in  the  shingles, 
or  wooden  tiles,  which  form  the  roof. 

The  Negress  requires  a  "  stallion-man  "  to  make  her 
feel  the  proper  physiological  sensation,  and  she  seldom 
finds  him  except  in  the  male  of  her  own  race.  Added 
to  this,  her  nervous  system  is  not  so  delicately  organ- 
ized as  in  the  White  woman.    Her  mucous  membranes 

2;j8 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  239 

are  drier,  especially  as  regards  the  genital  organs. 
The  "  flowers "  are  as  rare  in  Guiana  as  they  are 
common  in  Cochin-China.  I  shall  study  this 

question  more  in  detail  in  speaking  of  the  Negroes  of 
Senegal.  The  love  of  the  Negress  for  the  White 
man,  though  it  is  flattering  to  her  pride,  is  rather  an 
affection  of  the  head  than  the  physical  senses. 

Astringent  Injections.  The  teeth  are  the  chief 
beauty  of  the  Negress,  and  the  coloured  woman.  If 
the  former  takes  little  care  of  them,  that  is  not  the 
case  with  the  latter.  Morning  and  evening,  you  may 
see  her  chewing  a  tooth-pick  made  from  a  piece  of 
lemon  wood ;  half  a  green  lemon,  with  the  seeds  picked 
out,  makes  the  best  possible  tooth-brush  for  her. 
With  the  juice  of  this  fruit  also,  mixed  with  a  decoction 
of  the  husks  of  the  mahogany  nut,  they  also  make  a 
preparation  used  in  the  private  toilet.  Is  it  to  this 
daily  washing,  which  contracts  and  strengthens  the 
mucous  surfaces,  that  must  be  ascribed  the  rarity  of 
vaginal  discharges  amongst  the  women?  It  seems 
very  probable. 

The  Quadroon  and  Mulatta,  of  Guiana,  have  one 
special  characteristic.  Though  not  naturally  jealous, 
the  White  man  who  gets  into  the  clutches  of  one  of 
these  coloured  women,  may  be  pretty  sure  that  she 
will   never  let  him   go.     She  will  *   use  every  species 

'  The  Burmese  women  exercise  an  extraordinar}-  and  almost  irresistible 
fascination  on  Europeans.  A  distinguished  English  officer,  on  the  high 
road  to  promotion  and  dignity,  who  had  been  for  some  time  stationed 
at  Rangoon,  being  obliged  to  return  with  the  detachment  he  commanded 
to  the  headquarters  of  his  regiment  at  Madras,  was  so  inconsolable  at 
tJiis  forced  absence  from  his  pretty  Burmese  mistress,  who  refused  to 
quit    her   country,    that    he    threw    up  his  commission,  and  sacrificed  his 


240  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS  OF 

of  pleasure  to  enchain  him.  Old  Negresses  will  manu- 
facture for  her  love  philtres,  called  piaies,  intended  to 
secure  to  her  her  lover's  affections.  These  are  gener- 
ally aphrodisiac  beverages,  of  which  cantharides,  bois 
hande,  (and  sometimes  a  little  phosphorus)  form  the 
active  ingredients,  and  which  are  often  dangerous  to 
use.  As  to  the  Misli  or  Octoroon,  who  has  only  an 
eighth  part  of  black  blood  in  her  veins,  she  is  rare 
at  Guiana,  except  in  the  families  of  pseudo-whites. 
The  difference  in  the  colour  of  the  eyes,  between  her 
and  a  White  woman,  is  scarcely  perceptible,  and  the 
hair  is  soft  and  long.  The  shape  of  the  face,  the  lips, 
which  are  a  little  more  prominent,  and  the  breasts 
which  are  slightly  pear-shaped,  are  the  only  marks  of 
black  blood. 

The  Aphrodisiacs  used  by  the  Coloured  Women, 

In  the  Mulattas  and  Zambras,  the  black  blood  is  in 
the  ascendant,  and  they  both  preserve  the  special 
odour  of  the  Negro,  and  the  large  size  of  the  genital 
organ.  If  astringents  do  not  produce  the  desired  effect, 
and  the  Massogan  is  willing  to  undergo  the  process, 
they  will  propose  to  him  a  secret  remedy,  which  will 
cause  his  member  to  swell,  and  increase  his  voluptuous 
delights. 

The  Decoction  of  "Tightening  Wood ".  To  make 
him  perform  often,  they  will  give  him  to  drink,  before 
going  to  bed,  a  decoction  of  bois  bande\  or  "  tightening 
wood".  The  name  well  indicate  its  properties.  It  is 
the  bark  of  a  kind  of  nux  vomica  tree,  related  to  the 

family  lies,  friends,  and  social  position  to  return  to  tlie  arms  of  his 
beloved  at  Rangoon. 

Such  cases  are  far  from  rare,  and  are  well  known  to  those  who  have 
served  in  the  Madras  Presidency. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  241 

"false  Angostura",  which  contains  brucine,  and  a  little 
strychnine.  According  to  Rabuteau,  ^  it  has  a  special 
action  in  exciting  the  erective  muscles  of  the  penis, 
and  produces  priapism. 

This  decoction  taken  in  proper  doses,  will  cause 
erections ;  but  too  strong  a  dose  will  produce  symptoms 
of  poisoning. 

The  Hot  Aubergine.  This  last,  however,  is  less 
dangerous  than  another  method  of  enlarging  the  member 
(//  qua  gam  go  posson).  For  this  an  aubergine  (the 
fruit  of  the  &^%  plant),  of  an  appropriate  size,  is  taken, 
and  split  lengthways.  In  each  half  is  hollowed  out 
a  deep  groove  capable  of  containing  the  member  when 
erect.  Then  a  paste  is  made  with  flour,  and  water, 
in  which  has  been  boiled  some  "  tightening  wood ". 
some  phosphorus  matches  (six  to  twelve),  two  or  three 
small  pimentos  [zozos),  a  dozen  peppercorns,  and  as 
many  cloves,  with  one  or  two  vanilla  beans  to  give  it 
perfume.  The  foreskin  is  drawn  back,  and  the  penis 
and  gland  covered  with  this  paste,  and  then  enclosed 
in  the  aubergine.  The  plaster  is  left  on  for  some 
minutes,  and  at  once  produces  intense  phlogosis.  To 
allay  this,  the  penis  is  bathed  with  a  luke  warm  de- 
coction of  mallow,  and  then  is  rubbed  with  soap  suds, 
which  are  allowed  to  dry.  If  these  various  operations 
are  performed  in  the  morning,  eight  or  ten  hours 
before  copulating,  it  will  be  found  that  the  penis  has 
really  increased  in  size.  It  is  hot  and  inflamed,  springs 
into  an  almost  permanent  erection  at  the  least  touch, 
and  copulation  produces  a  sharp  feeling,  almost  painful. 
If  the  aubergine  is  kept  on  too  long,  priapism,  or 
cystitis,  will  ensue. 

*   Rabuteau,      De    la    Prostitution     en    Europe    depiiis     I'Antiqitite' 
Jiisqu'a   la  Jin  dn   XVle  Siccle,   Paris    185 1. 


242  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

Depraved   Lust  of  the  White  for  the  Negress. 

The  "White  man  to  whom  the  strong  smell  of  the 
Negress  is  rather  attractive  than  repellent,  is  already 
physiologically  depraved.  ^  I  have  known  many  such, 
— officers  and  officials — who  have  returned  to  France 
and  married  charming  young  women,  but  who  long 
for  the  black  skin  and  the  woolly  hair  of  the  daughter 
of  Ham.  It  must  be  confessed,  that  (to  use  a  familiar 
expression)  the  goods  are  always  up  to  sample.  The 
custom  of  never  wearing  stays,  and  the  high  waisted 
dress,  fastened  under  the  breasts,  like  the  fashion  of 
the  Directory,  gives  the  body  great  suppleness,  and 
leaves  the  waist  in  its  natural  form,  for  woman  was 
not  constructed  on  the  same  pattern  as  the  wasp.  If 
her  lips  are  black,  her  teeth  are  as  white  as  those 
of  a  puppy,  and  the  mucous  surfaces  of  her  mouth  are 
of  a  coral  red,  which  makes  an  agreeable  contrast  to 
her  black  skin.  Her  breath  is  pure.  If  the  breast  of 
the  young  Negress  is  pear-shaped,  the  nipples  are  nice 
and  firm.  The  Negress  is,  above  all,  remarkable  for 
her  large  pelvis,  and  has  posteriors  as  ample  as  those 
of  the  Venus  Callipyge.  You  feel  that  Nature  intended 
her  to  be  "  a  good  bearer".  The  thigh  is  of  a  fairly 
good    size,    but   the  leg   is   thin,  the  calves  are  small. 

'  Pruner  Bey  defines: — 

"The  penetrating  odour  given  out  by  the  skin  of  the  negro  is  ammo- 
niacal  and  rancid;  one  might  say  the  smell  of  the  he-goat.  There  is 
nothing  in  it  of  the  aqueous  perspiration,  for  that  is  not  increased.  It 
is  probably  due  to  a  volatile  oil  thrown  out  by  the  sebaceous  follicles. 
Measures  of  cleanliness  greatly  diminish  it,  without  however  causing  it 
entirely  to  disappear.  Wc  do  not  know  if  this  characteristic  of  the  race 
can  change  by  means  of  a  unifomi  diet,  as  is  the  case  with  fishermen 
and  with  opossum  hunters  in  Australia."  Mem.  sur  LES  NEGRES. — 
Mem.   de  la   Soc.  d' Anthropologie  (i860 — 63,   p.   325). 

For  further  details,  see  the  Excursus  to  the  last  chapter. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  243 

and  the  foot  flat  and  long.  In  conclusion,  we  may 
mention  that  the  skin  of  the  Negress  is  always  fresh, 
— a  charm  that  is  not  without  its  attractiveness  in  the 
heat  of  the  day. 

The    Beauties   of  the   Coloured   Woman.    The 

Zambra  is  almost  a  Negress,  and  her  dark  brown  tint 
is  not  so  agreeable — according  to  the  opinion  of  many 
amateurs — as  that  of  the  full  Negress.  In  the  Mulatta 
both  races  have  a  partial  predominance.  Her  hair  is 
crisp  and  curly,  though  longer.  The  skin  is  often  of 
a  pretty  golden  brown  colour.  Sometimes  her  genital 
organs  more  resemble  those  of  the  white  race,  but  the 
breast  is  always  pear-shaped,  and  the  nipple  always 
black.  In  the  Quadroon,  on  the  contrary,  the  black 
type  becomes  much  weaker;  the  eyes  are  sensual  and 
languorous,  the  hair  long  and  almost  smooth,  the  skin 
often  not  darker  than  that  of  a  brunette  of  the  South 
of  Europe;  the  lips,  though,  which  are  of  a  deep  car- 
mine red,  remain  rather  thick.  The  breast  is  still 
markedly  pear-shaped,  and  the  nipples  black ;  the 
pelvis,  and  buttocks  well  developed,  as  in  her  grand- 
mother, the  Negress.  The  hair  of  the  pubes  is  almost 
like  that  of  a  European  woman,  brown,  deep  chestnut, 
or  red,  if  the  latter  was  the  predominant  colour  in  the 
males.  The  clitoris  is  of  a  normal  size,  the  mucous 
surface  of  the  vulva,  carmine  red,  darkened  with  a 
dash  of  sepia.  The  leg  and  foot  closely  resemble  those 
of  the  European  women. 

Permanent  Marks  of  Black  Blood  in  the  Genital 
Organs  of  the  Male.  In  the  Quadroon  woman  the 
skin  is  often  lighter  than  that  of  a  dark  European 
woman    of  the  South   of  Europe;    and  the  Quadroon 


244  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF 

man  is  of  the  same  tint.  I  have  known  some  quite 
fair,  with  blue  eyes.  But,  it  suffices  to  cast  a  glance 
at  the  genital  organs,  to  find  the  indelible  marks  of 
black  blood.  The  skin  of  the  penis,  and  the  scrotum, 
is  always  darker  than  that  of  the  rest  of  the  body. 
The  mucous  surface  of  the  gland  is  of  a  deep  red, 
darker  than  the  clitoris  and  vulva  of  the  Quadroon 
woman.  By  this  colour,  and  by  the  blue  circle  at  the 
root  of  the  nails,  the  Quadroon  can  be  always 
recognized,  even  when  he  is  fair.  This  double  mark 
still  exists,  though  less  strongly,  in  the  Octoroon,  who 
has    but   one    eighth  part  of  black  blood  in  his  veins. 

Perversions  of  Sexual  Passions  in  the  Negro 
and  Coloured  Races.  There  only  remains  for  me 
to  give  some  details  concerning  the  perversions  of 
sexual  passions.  On  this  point,  I  shall  be  very  brief, 
having  very  little  to  say.  The  Negresses,  and  Creole 
women  of  colour,  are  pure,  as  are  also  their  brothers, 
in  this  sense,  that  pederasty  and  sodomy — those  two 
vices  so  common  in  the  Extreme  East — are  almost 
unknown  to  them. 

Women  are  so  easily  obtained  in  this  pleasant 
country,  that  this  result  is  not  astonishing.  I  have, 
however,  attended  medically  a  young  Mulatto,  who  had 
contracted  a  gonorrhoea  in  unnatural  copulation  with 
an  individual  whose  social  position  he  refused  to  reveal. 

Another  case  of  unnatural  offence,  I  found  in  a 
Negro  boy  of  fifteen,  who  had  accepted  the  immodest 
offers  of  a  freed  Arab.  This  latter  kept  a  little  liquor 
store,  for  the  sale  of  tafia  and  other  spirits.  He  first 
made  the  boy  drunk,  by  offering  him  a  lot  of  spirits, 
and,  the  money  not  being  forthcoming,  paid  himself 
on   the    lad's  body.     As  a  natural  consequence  of  the 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  245 

great  disproportion  in  the  size  of  the  two  parts,  there 
was  occasioned  a  rectal  fissure,  with  acute  inflammation 
of  the  anus.  The  mother  of  the  boy,  a  washerwoman, 
came  to  me,  and  related  the  story  which  the  young 
scoundrel  had  devised.  He  stated  that  a  young  goat 
had  run  after  him,  and  had  pushed  its  horn  up  his 
rectum !  The  young  blackguard  was,  no  doubt,  ac- 
customed to  commit  the  act,  for  there  was  a  well- 
marked  infundibulum  in  his  anus,  and  on  my  threatening 
not  to  cure  him  unless  he  told  me  the  truth,  he  con- 
fessed everything.  The  case  was  cured  by  appropriate 
treatment,  which  cicatrised  the  rectal  fissure,  but  the 
boy's  anus  remained  sufficiently  dilated  to  admit  the 
finger  easily. 

These  two  cases  are  the  only  ones  that  I  met  with 
amongst  the  coloured  races,  during  a  stay  of  three 
years:  but  on  the  other  hand,  amongst  the  Hindoos 
engaged  as  coolies,  and  the  Arabs  released  from  the 
hulks,  I  found  plenty  of  others. 

The  question  of  the  deflowering  of  little  Negresses, 
I  shall  treat  of  when  I  come  to  study  the  Negro  race 
in  Senegal. 

EXCURSUS  TO  CHAPTER  IIL 

The  following  astonishing,  and  hitherto  unrecorded 
facts  connected  with  this  abominable  propensity  in  Paris 
have  been  communicated  by  the  erudite  author  of 
Histoire  de  la  Prostitution  chez  tons  les  Peuples  du 
Alonde.     I  give  them  in  his  own  words : 

"  Greece  and  ancient  Rome,  where  sotadic  habits 
enjoyed  absolute  liberty,  had  not  thought  of  organising 
male  prostitution,  by  consecrating  to  it  special  lupanars. 


246  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

The  Greek  and  Latin  historians  have  not  left  us  any- 
thing, which  could  indicate  the  existence  of  brothels 
of  youths  and  young  men  addicted  to  the  exercise  of 
Socratic  love.  It  would  be  necessary  to  go  to  Persia 
in  order  to  discover  traces  of  such  tolerated  establish- 
ments devoted  to  the  vice  against  nature,  called  by 
euphemism  in  the  eighteenth  century,  the  philosophical 
sin  (see  on  that  subject  the  Voyage  en  Perse  of  the 
Chevalier  Chardin,  in  the  17th  century).  It  was  never 
suspected  that  an  establishment  of  the  kind  could  exist 
in  the  very  heart  of  Paris,  in  the  middle  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.  The  fact  is  however  incontestable,  as 
the  rare  survivors  of  the  period  of  the  Restoration 
may  testify.  At  that  time  the  police  was  so  closely 
occupied  watching  political  conspiracies,  that  it  could 
find  no  leisure  to  take  much  interest  in  moral  disorders. 
This  only  can  explain  the  sort  of  impunity  that,  from 
1820  to  1826,  was  accorded  to  an  establishment,  un- 
doubtedly not  authorised,  but  to  whose  existence  the 
authorities  closed  their  eyes. 

This  establishment  had  been  founded  m  the  Rue 
du  Doyenne,  which  formed  part  of  the  ancient  quarter 
of  Saint  Thomas  du  Louvre,  enclosed  within  the  quadri- 
lateral formed  by  the  junction  of  the  Louvre  with 
the  Tuileries.  This  Rue  du  Doyenne  was  lower  than 
the  level  of  the  Place  du  Carrousel ;  it  gave  on  one 
side,  on  to  the  large  avenue  that  the  Revolution  had 
opened  on  the  site  of  the  houses  which  had  been 
demolished  to  enable  the  Place  du  Carrousel  to  com- 
municate with  the  court  of  the  old  Louvre.  On  the 
other  side,  the  Rue  du  Doyenne  had  no  issue,  and 
led  only  to  blind  alleys  looking  on  to  abandoned 
gardens  and  waste  grounds.  This  house  of  male  pros- 
titution was  located  in  a  mansion  of  thQ  17th  century 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  247 

appropriated  to  its  new  destination.  The  grand  entrance 
was  suppressed,  and  in  its  place  were  two  small 
side-doors,  which  remained  shut  during  the  day  and 
were  only,  opened  at  night.  A  lantern  suspended  to 
a  post  opposite  the  building  shed  a  dubious  light  upon 
its  approaches,  and  it  might  have  been  supposed  to 
be  uninhabited,  and  indeed  had  probably  during  the 
day  for  only  inhabitants  the  master  of  the  house  and 
his  servants.  We  were  however  assured  that  the 
employes  resided  there  and  that  they  were  subjected 
to  a  very  severe  discipline ;  when  they  went  out  they 
were  kept  within  sight  and  had  nothing  to  do  with 
women  outside  of  the  house;  for  this  establishment, 
we  were  informed,  served  for  two  distinct  purposes: 
the  door  to  the  right  was  for  men,  that  on  the  left 
was  for  women.  The  latter,  who  were  no  doubt  but 
rare  exceptions,  came  there  in  quest  of  men  ready 
for  any  kind  of  work,  docile  and  indefatigable  servi- 
tors, whom  nothing  should  disgust  or  fatigue.  The 
men  on  the  contrary  (and  in  the  outset  the  establish- 
ment was  created  solely  for  their  use)  on  going  to 
spend  the  evening  or  the  night  in  the  male  Gynaeceum, 
would  have  avoided  it  with  horror,  if  they  had  been 
exposed  to  meet  with  women  there.  I  have  also  heard, 
that  the  health  of  the  active  pensioners  was  closely 
looked  after  by  special  doctors,  whose  mission  was  to 
preserve  them  from  an  ugly  malady  called  the  crystal- 
line.  As  soon  as  the  shades  of  evening  began  to 
fall,  at  4  o'clock  in  winter,  and  at  8  o'clock  in  sum- 
mer, the  palace  of  male  prostitution  seemed  to  revive ; 
the  blinds  were  seen  to  half  open,  the  windows  to  be 
illumined,  and  preparations  made  to  receive  visitors. 
At  each  door  of  the  establishment  there  could  be  seen 
a  young  man,  of  effeminate  appearance,  his  hair  care- 


248  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS    OF 

fully  curled,  elegantly  dressed,  his  neck  bare,  walking 
to  and  fro,  in  the  street,  beneath  the  glare  of  the 
lamp,  awaiting  custo?ners.  I  remember  having  seen, 
more  than  once,  such  goods,  and  I  was  struck  as 
much  by  their  decent  and  candid  features  as  by  the 
provocation  of  their  dress  and  appearance:  they  had 
exaggerated  the  strange  fashions  of  the  day:  frock- 
coats  with  leg-of-mutton  sleeves,  very  tight  at  the  waist, 
showing  off  the  hips  and  posterior  development.  It 
must  also  be  borne  in  mind  that  they  wore  rose-coloured 
or  blue  neck-ties,  and  that  they  usually  had  on  light 
coloured  gay  suits,  hazel,  grey,  or  greenish.  These 
details  might  be  called  the  bagatelles  of  the  door- way. 
This  pretty  institution  suddenly  disappeared  in  1826, 
after  the  publication  of  a  malicious  article,  in  which 
the  police  was  called  over  the  coals  by  a  theatrical 
journal,  wherein  the  author  expressed  his  astonishment 
that  such  a  public  or  semi-public  establishment  could 
have  so  long  have  been  able  to  peaceably  exist  next 
door  to  the  office  of  the  Gazette  de  France !  ^  As 
the  writer  maliciously  said:  "Are  we  to  presume 
neighbourly  good  fellowship  between  the  two  establish- 
ments", at  the  same  time  permitting  himself  an  injur- 
ious  allusion  to   the    supposed  tastes  of  Louis  XVIII. 

In  the  middle  ages,  the  principal  domain  of  prosti- 
tution in  Paris  was  called  the  Champ  Flory,  perhaps 
by  analogy  with  the  Field  of  Flowers  the  privileged 
rendezvous  of  the  courtesans  in  ancient  Rome.  In 
the  1 8th  century  and  the  first  forty  years  of  the  1 9th, 
it  was  in  the  Champs  Elysees  that  sodomy  held  its 
nocturnal    sessions.     There   are    still  living  many  wit- 

*  The  oldest  political  newspaper  in  France  (1660),  the  orjjan  of  legit- 
imate monarchy  and  of  stricdy  orthodox  catholicity. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  249 

nesses  of  the  facts  we  are  about  to  relate,  enabling 
them  to  be  recorded  in  a  history  of  ways  and  habits. 
The  entire  planted  square  extending  from  the  Place 
Louis  XV  (now  Place  de  la  Concorde)  to  the  Allee 
des  Veuves,  between  the  main  Avenue  of  the  Champs 
ElySees  and  the  Cours-la-Reine,  was  the  reserved  fief 
of  Ebugors :  these  did  not  show  themselves"  during 
the  day,  at  all  events  ostensibly,  but  at  even-tide  they 
took  possession  of  it,  as  masters  absolute,  until  dawn. 
The  Allee  des  Veuves,  since  become  the  superb 
Avenue  Montaig7ie,  bordered  by  handsome  buildings 
and  mansions,  was  at  that  time  nearly  uninhabited, 
and  the  low  wine-shops,  which  invaded  it  at  the  time 
of  the  Directory,  were  all  enfeoffed  to  the  dominating 
sect  of  the  Ebugors.  LA  TYNNA,  in  his  Dictionnaire 
topographique,  historique  et  c'tymologiqiie  des  Rues  de 
Paris  (5®  ed.  181 2),  did  not  know,  or  did  not  dare  to 
divulge  the  truth,  concerning  the  Alice  des  Veuves: 
"  This  alley  "  says  he,  "  at  the  bottom  of  the  Champs 
Elysees,  but  little  frequented  before  the  establishment 
of  the  drink-shops,  is  really  most  appropriate  for 
Veuves  (widows).  Veuve,  in  the  figured  language  of 
the  sodomites,  was  synonymous  of  the  passive  actors 
or  patients,  in  the  sense  of  the  latin  word  patiefis. 
From  all  corners  of  Paris,  those  interested  repaired 
every  evening  to  the  square  of  the  Alle'e  des  Veuves, 
and  as  soon  as  these  occupants  had  taken  possession 
of  it,  they  allowed  no  indifferent  stroller  to  intrude 
within  the  friendly  shade  of  the  venerable  trees  beneath 
which  the  sodomites  were  wont  to  sport.  It  would 
indeed  have  been  dangerous  to  venture  in  the  dark 
beneath  these  trees,  guarded  by  their  usual  frequenters, 
as  the  forests  of  antiquity  were  by  sylvans,  satyrs  and 
fauns.     But  the  people  of  the  Allee  des  Veuves  would 


250  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS  OF 

not  have  tolerated  the  approach  of  any  nymph  of 
the  woods.  There  was  no  doubt  some  pass-word, 
some  sign  of  recognition,  to  enable  late-comers  to  be 
admitted  without  opposition  to  the  free  exercise  of 
their  habitual  pastimes.  At  any  rate  the  police  and 
night  patrols  never  ventured  into  these  quarters,  where 
they  would  have  found  an  offensive  army  to  oppose 
their  imprudent  curiosity.  There,  during  seven  or 
eight  hours  of  the  night,  at  all  seasons,  was  a  pro- 
digious concourse  of  sectaries,  who  abandoned  them- 
selves to  their  secret  cult,  without  fear  of  being  dis- 
turbed or  troubled.  It  is  asserted  that  at  certain  times 
the  mysterious  love-feasts  of  these  neophytes  degenerated 
into  a  sort  of  nocturnal  sahbat,  in  which  the  horrible 
familiars  of  this  infernal  pell-mell  seize  hold  of  each 
other  hap-hazard  and  indiscriminately.  Then  were 
heard  cries,  groans,  complaints,  confused  sighs.  In 
these  sorts  of  occult  and  tenebrous  solemnities,  the 
entire  sanctuary  was  enclosed  by  ropes  stretched  from 
tree  to  tree,  and  there  were  armed  men  charged  to 
keep  out  all  the  profane,  by  threats  or  by  force,  Victor 
Hugo,  who  resided,  in  1831,  in  the  Rue  Jean  Goujon,  in 
the  then  new  and  almost  desert  quarter  of  Francis  I, 
when  he  had  retained  friends  of  his  till  a  late  hour  at 
his  home,  would  often  accompany  them,  as  walking 
in  groups,  they  conversed  on  art  and  literature,  as  far 
as  the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  whence,  after  bidding  his 
friends  good-night,  he  would  return  home  alone  com- 
posing verses  as  he  went.  He  had  several  times 
noticed  certain  men  who,  when  he  passed,  arranged 
themselves  in  echelons  along  the  border  of  the  square 
of  the  Allee  des  Veuves,  and  who  seemed  to  observe 
him  from  afar,  but  without  attempting  to  approach 
him.     He  could  not  suppose  these  men  to  be  robbers 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  251 

and  he  was  curious  to  know  what  was  the  motive 
of  their  habitual  presence  in  this  soHtary  place; 
but  poetry  soon  lifted  him  above  the  things  of  the 
earth,  and  he  continued  his  walk,  reciting  his  verses 
in  a  low  voice,  as  if  he  had  been  in  his  study.  On 
one  occasion,  he  stopped,  seeking  for  a  rhyme,  or 
staring  at  the  moon,  which  was  shining  in  all  its 
brilliancy :  a  man  detached  himself  suddenly  from  the 
shade  of  the  trees,  and  advanced  towards  him,  bowing: 
"Sir,"  said  the  stranger,  with  extreme  politeness,  "we 
must  entreat  you  not  remain  here  any  longer.  We 
know  who  you  are,  and  we  should  be  sorry  that  one 
of  ours,  not  knowing  you,  should  be  disagreeable  or 
hostile  in  addressing  you."  —  "But  what  then  are  you 
doing  here?"  asked  Victor  Hugo,  "Every  evening 
I  notice  people  glide  along  in  the  shade,  and  disappear 
beneath  the  trees."  "Pray  pay  no  attention  to  that. 
Sir,"  quickly  answered  the  person,  whom  Victor  Hugo 
had  before  him ;  "  we  do  not  disturb  or  get  in  the  way 
of  anybody,  but  we  do  not  suifer  anyone  to  disturb 
or  interfere  with  us ;  we  are  here  at  home !  "  Victor 
Hugo  understood,  bowed  and  went  his  way.  Another 
evening,  that  he  had  taken  along  with  his  friends  the 
counter-alley  which  bordered  the  Avenue  des  Veuves, 
he  found  this  counter-alley  obstructed  by  a  line  of 
chairs  bound  together  with  cords.  At  the  same  time 
a  menacing  voice  cried  out,  "  no  thoroughfare  here. " 
Another  voice,  less  formidable  and  almost  friendly, 
continued  immediately:  "  Mr.  Victor  Hugo  is  requested, 
for  this  time  only,  to  pass  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Avenue  des  Champs  Elysees." 

About  this  time,  Guilbert  de  Pixerecourt,  who  was 
manager  of  the  Theatre  Royal  of  the  Opera-Comique, 
had    the    annoyance   of  being   informed   by   the    com- 


252  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

missary  of  police  of  his  quarter,  that  the  previous 
evening,  behind  a  heap  of  paving-stones  in  the  Rue 
Saint  Fiacre,  the  Secretary-General  of  the  Opera-Co- 
mique  had  been  arrested,  being  discovered  in  intimate 
liaiso7i  with  a  Limousin  stone-mason.  Guilbert  de 
Pixerecourt  had  the  greatest  difficulty  in  saving  the 
Secretary-General  of  his  theatre  from  being  prosecuted 
in  the  Correctional  Police  Court;  he  sent  for  him 
and  overwhelmed  him  with  his  just  indignation.  "  It 
is  true,  Monsieur  le  Directeur,'"  replied  the  guilty 
man,  shedding  tears,  "I  was  wrong  not  to  know  how 
to  contain  myself  until  I  should  have  arrived  at  the 
Champs-Elysees,  with  the  worthy  fellow  I  met  on  the 
Boulevard  du  Temple.  I  am  grieved  at  a  scandal 
which  would  not  have  occurred,  if  we  had  gone 
directly  as  usual  to  the  Allee  des    Veuves."" 

When  the  municipal  authorities  at  last  decided  to 
morally  cleanse  the  Champs-Elysees,  and  to  hunt  out 
of  it  for  ever  the  Ebugors  of  the  Allee  des  Veuves 
and  neighbourhood,  these  gentry  whom  the  police 
forced  to  quit,  used  during  some  time  to  come  back 
again :  it  was  necessary  to  drive  them  away  at  night, 
and  to  make  numerous  arrests,  which  were  often  re- 
sisted with  arms  in  hand  and  led  to  sanguinary  reprisals. 
Finally  the  law  got  the  upper  hand,  and  the  sect  of 
the  Ebugors  was  finally  dispersed  and  subjected  to  the 
police  regulations." 

One  of  the  most  abominable  pederastic  scandals  of  mod- 
ern times,  and  which  created  an  immense  sensation 
at  the  period,  occurred  during  the  reign  of  Napoleon  III. 
There  are  many  persons  now  living,  contemporaries 
of  the  events,  who  perfectly  remember  the  circum- 
stances, the  details  of  which  oozed  out  notwithstanding 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  253 

the  Strenuous  eflforts  that  were  made  to  stifle  the  report 
of  them. 

The  following  are  the  facts  as  related  by  Pisanus 
Fraxi :  — 

The  anonymous  authors  of  I' Histoire  amoureuse  des 
Gaules  have  revealed  to  us  one  of  the  most  singular 
episodes  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV,  in  writing  the 
annals  of  France  become  Italian.  It  is  known  how 
indignant  and  humiliated  the  "  Grand  Alonarque"  felt 
to  find  his  own  son,  the  Count  of  Vermandois,  was 
compromised  in  the  ugly  doings  of  the  society  of 
Franco-Italian  Ebugors.  The  Emperor  Napoleon  III 
experienced  a  similar  mortification  when  he  learned 
that  some  of  the  most  eminent  men  of  his  reign  were 
compromised  in  a  great  Sodomy  Company  limited 
business.  The  originator,  or  at  least  the  director  of 
this  affair,  in  which  very  important  sums  of  money 
were  invested  on  mutual  account,  was,  it  was  said, 
Mr.  C — n,  the  syndic  (president)  of  the  Parisian  Asso- 
ciation of  Stockbrokers.  This  gentleman,  one  of  the 
richest  riiembers  of  this  association,  was  perhaps  no 
more  than  the  not  over  scrupulous  and  obliging  friend 
of  tl  8se  personages  of  the  Court,  of  the  Senate  and 
of  Financial  circles,  with  whom  banking  operations 
had  brought  him  into  intimate  contact.  However  that 
might  be,  an  association,  or  rather  club,  of  sodomists 
had  already  been  four  or  five  years  in  existence  with- 
out the  fact  being  noted,  when  mere  chance  made 
it  known. 

The  Colonel  of  the  Dragons  dc  .V Impc'ratrice  was 
advised  that  the  soldiers  of  this  crack  regiment  were 
making  extravagant  expenses  of  all  kinds  and  that 
they  had  most  of  them  gold  in  their  pockets-.  It  was 
not    easy    to    explain    how   these   men    could    possibly 


254  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

have  so  suddenly  become  rich,  it  being  known  that 
neither  they  nor  their  famihes  possessed  the  least 
amount  of  income.  They  were  chosen  among  the 
most  handsome  and  pretty-faced  men  in  the  army,  and 
their  coquettish  uniform  appeared  to  be  their  sole 
appanage.  Several  of  them  were  searched;  they  were 
found  possessed  of  well-lined  purses;  one  had  25  louis 
{£20)  on  him.  They  pretended  that  this  money  was 
gained  at  play,  but  they  did  not  or  would  not  say  at 
what  game  they  had  made  it.  They  were  temporarily 
put  for  a  few  days  under  arrest.  At  the  same  time 
it  transpired  that  the  Cent-Gardes  of  the  Emperor  had 
made  their  fortune,  at  all  events  a  great  number  of 
them,  and  particularly  those  who  were  specially  re- 
markable for  effeminate  beauty  of  face,  bodily  beauty, 
or  elegant  appearance.  These  latter  possessed,  besides 
splendid  jewels,  watches,  chains,  rings,  and  a  little 
stock  of  ready  cash,  which  could  not  be  the  result  of 
avowable  economies.  There  were  new  questionings, 
new  researches,  but  always  with  the  same  uncertain- 
ties. At  last  a  witness  declared  that  one  of  the  dra- 
goons, still  under  arrest,  had  told  him,  after  a  copious 
dinner  largely  moistened  with  wine,  that  he  would  one 
day  become  a  millionnaire,  because  no  one  could  do 
the  Empress  better  than  he.  The  question  suggested 
itself  what  was  the  meaning  of:  to  do  the  Empress. 
This  was  soon  made  clear,  when  the  police,  which  had 
been  put  on  the  scent,  discovered  the  headquarters  of 
the  Ebugors,  in  a  mansion  in  the  Allee  des  Veuves, 
the  property  of  the  Society  and  which  served  for  the 
cult  of  Sodom.  This  mansion,  purchased  at  the  expense 
of  the  members,  had  been  furnished  and  arranged  spe- 
cially for  its  purpose;  there  were  to  be  seen  there 
splendid    apartments,    that    were  never  but  transitorily 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  255 

occupied,  by  unknown  persons  who  were  received  only 
on  presentation  of  a  medal  or  sort  of  abraxas  showing 
mysterious  signs  and  monograms.  The  door-keeper 
and  the  servants  of  this  house  were  taken  into  custody, 
after  a  visit  to  the  premises  had  left  no  doubt  of  their 
usual  destination.  In  the  interior  two  wardrobes  were 
discovered  filled  with  all  kinds  of  costumes,  feminine 
of  course,  and  among  them,  the  costumes  worn  by  the 
Empress  Eugenie  in  ceremonies  and  official  receptions. 
This  strange  discovery  led  to  another  still  more  signif- 
icant. A  quantity  of  correspondence  was  seized,  let- 
ters in  all  sorts  of  hand-writings,  anonymous  or  pseu- 
donymous, interchanged  between  the  associates  and 
their  adherents,  who  were  none  other  than  Cent-gardes 
and  Dragons  de  V Impe'ratrice.  A  judicial  enquiry 
was  instituted,  and  the  porter-manager  of  the  estab- 
lishment   was    forced   to   speak.     The  recognized  head 

of  the  affair,  Mr.  C n,  was  summoned  before  the  Pro- 

cureur-General  who,  after  a  simply  confidential  exami- 
nation, thought  it  necessary  to  refer  the  matter  to  the 
Emperor  in  person,  communicating  to  him  at  the  same 
time  the  reports  of  the  police,  in  which  were  men- 
tioned the  names  of  several  eminent  personages,  who 
were  on  the  point  of  being  involved  in  the  most  scan- 
dalous prosecution.  The  Emperor  had  no  sooner  lis- 
tened to  the  Procureur-General  and  perused  the  docu- 
ments he  had  brought,  than  he  judged  it  prudent  to 
suspend  proceedings  and  to  hush  up  the  affair,  keeping 
at  the  same  time  in  his  possession  all  the  documents 
connected  with  it,  and  among  them  the  famous  corre- 
spondences, in  \vhich  the  acts  and  doings  of  the  interested 
parties  were  exposed  without  any  veil  and  in  the  most 
figurative  and  burning  language.  As  he  said  to  the 
Procureur-General :    "  It    is    advisable    to    spare    one's 


256  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

people  and  one's  conntry  such  shameful  things ;  scandal 
corrects  nobody  and  does  harm  to  every  one.  The 
punishment  of  such  turpitude  must  be  altogether  arbi- 
trary and  secret;  I  undertake  to  reach  the  guilty  of 
all  ranks,  without  having  recourse  to  the  laws,  which 
I  consider  to  be  impotent  against  such  acts  of  human 
degradation."  The  subordinate  culprits  who  were  in 
preventive  arrest,  were  set  at  liberty.  No  one  else 
was  troubled  openly ;  but  Mr.  C .  .  .  .n  resigned  his 
position  as  a  stockbroker  and  retired  to  his  coun- 
try residence,  where  he  continued  to  remain:  two  or 
three  senators  no  longer  showed  themselves  at  Court, 
five  or  six  other  incriminated  persons,  more  or  less 
compromised,  exercised  justice  on  themselves  by  disap- 
pearmg  from  Parisian  society,  where  their  unexplained 
absence  was  remarked  and  much  commented  on.  The 
Cent-gardes  and  the  Dragons  de  V Imperatrtce  were 
not  subjected  to  any  disciplinary  measures,  but  a  great 
number  of  them  were  passed  into  other  regiments, 
where  they  remained  under  the  supervision  of  their 
new  chiefs.  For  ten  or  fifteen  days  law  murmurs  circu- 
lated about  this  affair  and  its  consequences,  but  the 
matter  was  stifled  by  superior  order.  No  doubt  the 
correspondence  and  documents  in  the  hands  of  the 
Emperor,  were  completely  destroyed,  for  not  a  single 
one  was  ever  found  again,  as  the  authors  of  the  Fourth 
of  September  hoped  they  would  be  when  they  made 
a  most  minute  examination  of  the  private  papers  in 
the  Tuileries.  Nevertheless  the  liberty  was  taken  to 
publish  the  love-letters  of  a  senator  to  a  dragoon  who, 
under  different  costumes,  had  played  the  part  of  the 
Empress  in  the  mysteries  of  the  mansion  in  the  AlUe 
des    Veuves. 

The  house  in  the  Allee  des  Veuves,  although  undoubt- 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  257 

edly  one  of  the  most  important,  was  by  no  means 
the  only  establishment  devoted  to  the  practice  of 
sodomy,  nor  were  its  frequenters  the  only  individuals 
addicted  to  that  vice.  Paris  was  indeed  at  that  time 
infested  Vv'ith  clubs  of  pederasts,  and  sodomy  was  very 
generally  practised  by  men  of  all  classes.  Although 
the  papers  relating  to  the  scandal  in  the  Alice  des 
Veuves  have  no  doubt  disappeared,  as  my  informant 
surmises,  yet  other  official  documents,  amply  sufficient 
to  bear  out  my  assertion,  are  still  in  existence.  I 
have  had  the  opportunity  of  perusing  one  of  these,  a 
police  report,  duly  signed  and  approved,  dated  "  i6 
Juillet  1864",  some  time  before  the  breaking  up  of 
the  band  already  mentioned.  The  chief  of  that  society 
was  already  known  to  the  police,  and  is  described  in 
the  report  before  me  as:  "A  very  good-looking  old 
gentleman,  and  exceedingly  rich,  known  at  the  Barriere 
de  I'Ecole  {sic,  intended  probably  for  Etoile)  under  the 
name  of  Father  C — n,  surnamed  Vhomme  a  la  Hingue.'' 
The  report  continues: 

"  He  comes  to  the  cafe  Truffaut,  notices  some  young 
soldier  who  takes  his  fancy,  makes  the  waiter  convey 
a  message  to  him  and  leaves  the  cafe  without  wait- 
ing for  an  answer.  If  the  soldier  accepts,  he  goes  to 
the  rendezvous,  and  as  Father  C — n  is  well  known, 
he  never  goes  alone.  Hardly  has  the  meeting  com- 
menced, than  immediately  a  lot  of  troopers  appear, 
fall  upon  Father  C — n,  beat  him,  and  force  him  to 
give  them  all  the  money  he  has  about  him,  which  he 
does  with  good  grace  enough;  then«,  when  he  has  not 
a  sou  left  and  that  often  he  has  even  given  up  his 
watch,  he  escapes  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  repeating  as 
he  runs :  '  What  an  unfortunate  situation  for  such  a 
man  as  I,'" 


258  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

The  attention  of  the  police  was  directed  to  these 
illicit  practices  by  one  of  the  sect,  A.  R  .  .  .  .  m,  from 
whom  the  Vicomte  de  M  .  .  y  had  abducted  his  fa- 
vourite youth  and  "  maitresse  en  titre",  and  who,  in 
a  fit  of  jealousy,  gave  information  against  the  band. 
In  the  report  in  question  the  names  and  addresses  of 
the  persons  implicated  are  given  in  full,  together  with 
numerous  specimens  of  their  love-letters  to  each 
other.  On  one  occasion  there  were  actually  eye-wit- 
nesses of  their  practices;  these  are  minutely  described, 
and  it  appears  that  a  bitch  figured  in  these  orgies. 
Again  I  transcribe  from  the  report : 

"  When  these  assemblies  were  complete,  they  closed 
the  curtains,  and  abandoned  themselves  to  scenes  of 
orgie  and  of  scandal  that  disturbed  the  repose  of  the 
other  dwellers  in  the  house  during  a  great  part  of  the 
night.  They  were  distinctly  heard  giving  each  other 
feminine  names,  and  they  could  even  be  seen  between 
the  curtains  masturbating  and  sucking  each  other. 
One  of  the  specialities  of  these  soirees  was  an  act  of 
beastliness  which  they  called;  V Omelette  d.  la  Gre- 
nouille,  ^  wherein  there  figured  a  bitch,  which  must 
have  been  put  to  great  pain,  to  judge  by  the  howls 
of  the  animal  that  these  gentry  tried  to  smother  by 
songs  with  accompaniment  on  the  piano.  These  facts 
were  attested  by  most  respectable  persons,  lodgers  in 
the  house." 

I  have  elsewhere "  mentioned,  under  reserve,  balls 
of  sodomites,  and  I  am  now  able  to  confirm  that 
assertion.  In  the  report  under  consideration  two  balls 
are    spoken    of:    the    one    given    at  no.  8.  Place  de  la 

'  The  frog  omelette. 

»  INDEX  LIBRORUM  PROHIBITORUM. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  259 

Madeleine,  January  2,  1864,  by  an  "  homme  d'affaires", 
E.  D  .  .  .  .  d ;  the  other,  a  return  entertainment  by  the 
Vicomte  de  M .  .  y,  at  the  Pavilion  de  Rohan,  172, 
Rue  de  Rivoli,  on  the  i6th  of  the  same  month.  At 
this  assembly,  there  were  at  least  150  men,  and  some 
of  them  so  well  disguised  as  women  that  the  landlord 
of  the  house  was  unable  to  detect  their  sex." 

We  consider  it  but  justice  to  say  that  most  of  the 
above  extracts  have  been  taken  from  that  valuable 
work  by  Pisanus  Fraxi,  the  Centuria  Librorum  Abs- 
cofidiiorum.     London  (privately  printed)   1879. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Hindoo  race  in  Guiana.  —  Laziness  of  Ihe  Black  of  Cayenne. 
—  The  hired  Hindoo. — A7ithropological  characteristics  of  the 
Hindoo. — The  genital  organ  of  the  race.  Comparison  of  the 
genital  organ  of  the  Negro  with  that  of  the  Hindoo. —  'The  four 
kinds  of  temperament  of  the  Hindoo  ivoman. —  Want  of  morality 
in  the  Hindoo  race. — Perversions  of  the  sexual  passion. 

Laziness  of  the  Black  Man  of  Cayenne.  The  Black, 
at  Cayenne,  generally  dislikes  the  painful  labour  of 
agriculture.  If  he  is  the  possessor  of  a  patch  of  ground, 
he  plants  some  bananas,  a  little  manioc,  and  a  few 
roots  of  tobacco,  and  pimento.  Mudfish  form  his  chief 
food;  tafia  costs  sixpence  a  quart,  retail.  The  Black 
has  few  wants  he  cannot  supply,  and  if  he  does  work 
at  all,  it  is  usually  at  the  gold  diggings,  where  he 
can  earn  large  wages,  which  are  paid  in  nuggets,  and, 
perhaps,  he  manages  to  conceal  a  few  other  nuggets. 
It  is  no  rarity  to  see  a  Black  arrive  at  Cayenne  with 
several  thousand  francs;  the  first  thing  he  does  is  to 
buy  a  complete  suit  of  black,  with  a  tall  hat,  and  a 
white  tie,  like  a  respectable  lawyer.  He  spends  all 
his  money  on  women,  and  when  his  cash  is  gone,  he 
returns  to  his  work  at  the  mines. 

The  Hired  Hindoo.     To  cultivate  the  large  estates 
recourse  is  had  to  Hindoos,  hired  with  the  consent  of 

260 


UNTRODDEN  FIELDS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY.     261 

the  English  Government.  For  a  small  daily  pay,  his 
food,  clothes,  and  lodging,  the  Hindoo  must  give  five 
years'  work.  Practically,  he  is  worse  off  than  if  he 
were  a  slave  for  life,  for  his  master  gets  the  greatest 
possible  amount  of  work  out  of  him,  without  caring 
if  the  poor  wretch's  strength  is  worn  out  at  the  end 
of  the  time.  But  we  must  pass  over  this  subject.  I 
will  only  state  here,  that  this  system  of  hiring  Hindoos 
is  a  deplorably  bad  one.  They  are  picked  up  from 
the  dregs  of  the  great  cities  of  Calcutta,  and  Benares, 
which  is  as  much  as  to  say  that  they  are  totally  unfit 
for  the  hard  work  of  cultivating  the  fields.  As  I  had 
found,  in  Cochin-China,  the  IVIalabar  healthy,  and  robust, 
so  did  I  find  the  hired  coolie,  puny,  and  unhealthy, 
for  syphilitic  diseases  are  soon  communicated  amongst 
these  voluntary  exiles. 

I  was  able  to  study  this  race  closely,  having  ob- 
tained from  the  Colonial  Government,  one  of  these 
hired  coolies,  to  employ  as  my  boy.  I  was  lucky 
enough  to  meet  with  a  lad  of  eighteen,  almost  a  Cau- 
casian in  form  and  features,  who  was  active,  and  intel- 
ligent ;  he  spoke  a  little  English,  and  quickly  learned 
French,  and  served  as  an  interpreter  between  me  and 
my  Hindoo  patients.  They  were  non-paying  patients, 
and  for  a  very  good  reason.  I  was  thus  able  to 
gather  some  curious  information  about  these  unfortu- 
nate waifs,  who  generally  belong  to  the  class  of  pariahs, 
for  they  are  almost  the  only  persons  who  would  consent 
to  expatriate  themselves,  and  quit  the  soil  where  their 
ancestors  rest. 

Anthropological  Characteristics  of  the  Hindoo. 

Anatomically,  the  Hindoo  appeared  to  me  to  resemble 
the    European,    but  the  ni^re  refined  European  of  the 


262  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS   OF 

great  cities.  His  features  are  regular,  the  nose  straight, 
the  eyes  horizontal,  and  widely  open,  the  lips  thin,  the 
feet  and  hands  small,  and  well-made.  The  long  and 
smooth  hair  often  falls  to  the  hips.  The  skin,  however, 
is  almost  as  dark  as  that  of  the  Negro,  but  has  not 
the  same  earthy  tint,  but  often  has  the  colour  of  old 
bronze.  The  breast  of  the  woman  is  far  from  being 
pear-shaped  like  that  of  the  Negress,  but  is  not  hemi- 
spherical, like  that  of  the  White  women :  it  is  rather 
arched,  but,  in  the  young  girl,  is  small  and  firm.  In 
the  adult  woman  it  is  greatly  enlarged,  but  does  not 
hang  like  the  breast  of  the  Negress. 

The  Genital  Organ  of  the  Race.  The  Kama 
Sutra  1    divides   men    into   three  classes,  according  to 

*  The  Kama  Sutra  of  Vatsayayana,  a  book  of  Hindoo  Erotology 
written  in  Sanscrit  about  the  fifth  century  of  the  Christian  era. 

This  boolc  was  done  from  the  Sanscrit  into  English  and  privately 
printed  in  London,  in  1883,  and  is  one  of  those  important  anthropolo- 
gical treatises  for  which  India  is  famous.  It  appears  that  the  collation 
of  original  MSS.  obtained  from  Calcutti,  Benares  and  Jeypur  was  only 
effected  after  immense  trouble  and  with  tlie  help  of  several  distinguished 
scholars.  The  wealth  of  erotic  Indian  literature  existing  in  Hindi  and 
Sanscrit  may  be  gauged  from  the  following : — 

(i)  Ratira  has  ya  =    The  Secrets  of  Love. 

(2)  Pancha  sayka  =    The  Five  Arrows. 

(3)  Smara  Pradipa  =    The  Light  of  Love. 

(4)  Ratimanjari  =    The  garland  of  Love. 

(5)  Rasmanjari  =    The  Push  of  Love. 

(6)  Kamaledhiplava  =    The  Boat  on  Love's   Ocean. 

This  last  is  also  known  as  Ananga  Ranga,  or  the  stage  of  the  Bodiless  one. 

Further  information  may  be  found  in  the  learned  introduction  to  the  book 
itself:  in  the  nvant-propos  to  the  charming  French  edition  translated 
from  the  English  version  and  published  by  Liseux  (Paris,  1885) — not  to 
be  confounded  with  a  cheap,  nasty  and  incorrect  French  text  issued  by 
Carre'  and  translated  by  Lamairesse — and  in  Catena  Librorum  Tacen- 
DORUM  (all  about  privately  printed  books)  by  PiSANU.s  Fraxi,  (London, 
1885). 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  263 

the  length  of  their  lingam, — the  hares,  the  bulls,  and 
the  stallions.  In  comparison  with  the  Negro — the  type 
of  the  stallion  in  the  human  race — the  Hindoo  is  a 
hare,  but  a  little  bigger,  however,  than  the  Annamite, 
who  appears  to  me  to  occupy  the  lowest  place  in  the 
scale  of  the  comparative  sizes  of  the  genital  organs. 
The  penis  of  the  Hindoo  is  generally  covered  by  the 
foreskin,  when  in  its  normal  condition,  and  when  in 
erection,  in  the  boy  not  yet  arrived  at  puberty.  It 
does  not  become  bared  in  erection  until  the  lad  has 
arrived  at  puberty,  and  is  of  an  average  age  pf  sixteen 
to  eighteen,  and  then  that  is  probably  due  to  mastur- 
bation. 

The  skin  of  the  penis,  and  the  scrotum,  is  of  a  fine 
black,  or  deep  chocolate,  as  in  the  Zambro,  but,  it 
should  be  remarked,  the  mucous  surface  of  the  gland 
of  the  Hindoo  is  never  black.  It  is  of  a  more  or  less 
darkened  red ;  almost  bright  in  the  waifs  of  the  higher 
castes,  whose  skin  is  lighter  ttian  that  of  the  pariahs. 

In  its  usual  condition,  the  yard  is  extremely  flaccid, 
but  increases  greatly  when  erect,  being  then  almost 
treble  the  size,  and  as  hard  as  that  of  the  European. 
The  average  size  appeared  to  me  to  be  about  5  inches 
long,  by  i^  in  diameter.  Many  are  from  3^  to  4 
inches,  by  one  inch.  Few  are  from  5I  to  6  inches, 
which  is  nearly  the  European  average,  and  which  here 
appears  to  be  the  maximum.  The  testicles  are  oval, 
and  the  size  of  a  pigeon's  ^%%. 

Comparison  of  the  Genital  Organ  of  the  Negro 
with  that  of  the  Hindoo.  By  the  side  of  the  Ne- 
gro of  Guiana,  the  Hindoo  cuts  but  a  sorry  figure. 
The  yard  of  the  former,  when  limp,  measures  from 
five  to  six  inches  long  by   i^  to  i^  inches  in  diameter. 


264  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OP' 

When  erect,  it  does  not  swell  proportionally,  but  rises 
only  to  6:^  to  8  inches  by  2^  or  2^  inches  in  diameter. 
But  the  erection  is  never  hard  like  that  of  the  Euro- 
pean, the  Chinese  and  the  Hindoo.  It  is  always  rather 
soft,  and  feels  to  the  hand  like  a  strong  elastic  hollow 
tube  of  black  india-rubber.  The  testicle  of  the  Black 
is  rounder  than  that  of  the  Hindoo. 

Another  characteristic  difference  is  that  of  the  secre- 
tion of  the  mucous  surfaces.  Either  from  cleanliness, 
or  from  some  other  cause,  a  very  small  quantity  of 
sebaceous  smegma  is  found  under  the  foreskin  of  the 
Negro.  If  the  Negress  very  rarely  suffers  from  dis- 
charges from  the  vulva,  the  Hindoo  woman  is,  in 
this  respect,  almost  a  match  for  the  Congai.  This  is 
evidently  a  difference  of  race,  for  the  food  of  the  hired 
coolies  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  low  class  Blacks, 
except  that  rice  takes  the  place  of  manioc,  or  cassava. 

The  Kama  Sutra  does  not  give  the  dimensions  of 
the  lingam,  but  this  omission  is  repaired  by  the  Ananga 
Ranga,  ^  written  in  the  1 6th  century  of  our  era,  whilst 
the  previous  work  dates  from  the  5th  century.  The 
Anaiiga  Ranga  gives,  for  the  dimensions  of  the  penis 
of  the  "hare-man",  a  length  of  six  fingers  broad;  for 
the    "  bull-man",    nine,    and    for    the    "  man    stallion", 

'  Ananga  Ranga,  a  Hindoo  treatise  on  conjugal  love,  written  in 
Sanscrit  by  the  great  poet,   Kalyana  Malla  (i6th  Century). 

This  work,  far  from  being  obscene,  is  an  intelligent  study  of  the 
sexual  functions  of  the  married  relations,  and  in  the  East  is  studied  by 
people  of  high  rank  and  low.  Burton,  with  Arbuthnot's  coadjutorship, 
made  an  English  version  (Cosmopoli,  1885),  of  it  direct  from  the  orig- 
inal Sanskrit  te.xts,  and  it  was  privately  issued  in  London  in  a  limited 
number.  In  the  Arabic  it  is  known  as  Lizzat  al-Xisa  (Pleasures  of 
Women),  and  the  common  folk  of  India  style  it  Koka  Pandit,  the 
name  of  its  supposed  author.  Isidore  Liseux,  the  ex-Catholic  priest, 
printed  a  translation  of  it  in  French  (Paris,   1886). 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  265 

twelve.  It  should  be  remarked  that  the  finger  of  the 
Hindoo,  being  thin  and  delicate,  is  not  more  than  0.6 
of  an  inch  in  breadth,  and  these  measures  would  there- 
fore correspond  to  3.6  inches,  5.4  inches,  and  7.2  inches. 
The  result  of  my  personal  observations  is,  that  the 
great  bulk  of  the  Hindoo  coolies  may  be  classed  as 
"men-hares",  only  a  small  number  are  "men-bulls", 
and  a  smaller  number  still  "  men-stallions". 

The  dimensions  of  the  depth  of  the  yoni  (vagina) 
correspond  to  those  of  the  men  of  their  class.  Neither 
of  the  works  mentioned  gives  the  size ;  that  depends, 
mainly,  upon  the  more  or  less  frequent  usage  that  the 
woman  makes  of  her  yoni.  '  But,  as  a  general  prin- 
ciple, the  vulva  and  the  vagina  of  the  Hindoo  woman 
are  much  less  widely  open  than  those  of  the  Negress, 
though  they  are  in  excess  of  those  of  the  Congai. 

The  four  Kinds  of  Temperament  of  the  Hindoo 
Woman.  ^  The  Ananga  Ranga  classifies  women  in 
four  orders,  according  to  their  temperament.  It  may 
be  interesting  to  remark,  that  this  excellent  work  (to 
which  we  refer  the  reader),  was  far  in  advance,  at  that 
time,  of  the  medical  science  of  Europe,  which  was 
then  in  its  infancy.  Not  until  the  17th  century,  did 
we  get  a  classification  analogous  to  that  of  the  Hindoos, 

'  See  the  Excursus  to  this   chapter. 

•  The  Hindoo  woman,  according  to  Mantegazza  (a)  is  pretty  and  has 
a  gentle,  passionate  nature.  She  generally  possesses  certain  beauties,  eyes 
of  raven  black,  glowing  with  the  heat  of  the  tropics,  large,  and  shad- 
owed beneath  heavy  eyebrows  and  lids;  her  shoulders,  arms  and  breast 
are  worthy  of  a  Greek  statue.  Her  pretty  little  feet,  free  from  any 
tyrannical  imprisonment  of  shoe  or  boot,  are  adorned  with  ankle  brace- 
lets and  rings  on  the  toes,  which  have  retained  intact  their  pristine 
beauty  and  freshness."     Pl.oss. — Das    IVeib  (vol  I.  p.   68). 

o   Mantegazza — " /ndicn,"   (Jena,    1885). 


266  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS   OF 

for  the  four  orders  of  women  correspond  almost  exactly 
to  the  four  temperaments  of  the  European  doctors, — 
the  nervous,  the  sanguine,  the  bilious,  and  the  lym- 
phatic. I  only  met  at  Guiana  with  the  two  last  orders, 
the  Shankhmi  (the  woman  conch)  and  the  Hasti7ii 
(woman  elephant).  The  anatomical  details  of  the 
Hindoo  author  are  very  exact.  Whether  the  moral 
details  were  equally  correct,  it  is  impossible  for  me 
to  say. 

The  Want  of  Morality,  and  Sexual  Perversions 
amongst  the  Hindoos.  The  coolie,  it  should  be 
remarked,  is  a  pariah,  and  the  pariah  in  India,  as 
Jacolliot  has  well  pointed  out,  has  no  morality.  Badly 
fed  and  badly  paid,  the  hired  coolies  try  to  make 
money  by  any  means  they  can, — the  men  that  they 
may  procure  tafia,  and  the  women  that  they  may  buy 
suitable  clothes  and  jewels.  Hence  there  is  a  complete 
want  of  morality  amongst  these  poor  people. 

The  youth,  of  from  fifteen  to  twenty  years  of  age, 
gives  himself  up  to  pederasty,  and  finds  customers 
amongst  the  Arabs  and  Europeans  released  from  the 
hulks.  The  woman  also  is  ready  to  practise  any 
method,  like  the  prostitute  of  Europe,  and  has  not, 
as  the  Negress  has,  a  horror  of  sodomy.  The  admirers 
of  this  sort  of  pleasure,  moreover,  claim  in  justification 
(exactly  as  they  did  in  Cochin-China  at  the  beginning 
of  the  occupation)  the  dangers  of  ordinary  copulation. 
Gonorrhoea  and  syphilis  are  the  lot  of  those  who 
indulge  in  natural  coition  with  the  Hindoo  woman;  — 
she  shares  this  miserable  distinction  with  the  Congai. 

A  depraved  man  can  therefore  easily  satisfy  his 
passions    in    Guiana.     If   natural    copulation    with    the 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  267 

Negress,  or  the  coloured  woman,  have  no  attractions 
for  him,  he  has  the  Hindoo  woman  or  boy  to  fall 
back  on.  But  I  should  remark  here,  that  there  is  one 
remarkable  difference  between  this  last  and  the  Annamite 
boy.  The  latter  takes  delight  in  unnatural  acts,  and 
will  become  an  active  agent  if  required ;  the  Hindoo, 
on  the  contrary,  is  passive,  and  nothing  but  passive. 
In  no  case  does  he  try  to  reverse  the  roles.  Besides 
which,  the  Arab  (or  the  White  man)  who  is  an  active 
pederast,  would  not  permit  this;  he  obliges  the  boy 
to  suffer  his  attacks  without  giving  him  any  compen- 
sation of  the  same  nature. 

As  to  the  deformities  of  the  vulva,  or  the  anus, 
produced  in  the  Hindoo  race  by  coition,  they  much 
resemble  those  which  I  have  described  in  the  Annamite 
race.  To  enumerate  them  here  would  be  a  repetition , 
so   I  refer  the  reader  to  what  I  have  already  written. 

I  should  also  remark,  that  the  Hindoo  women  are 
well  acquainted  with  means  for  procuring  abortion, 
analogous  to  those  described  in  the  Ananga  Ranga, 
and  that  they  do  not  hesitate  to  use  them,  if  they  find 
themselves  pregnant  by  a  foreigner. 

EXCURSUS      TO  CHAPTER  IV. 

Lombroso  takes  upon  this  matter  a  somewhat  op- 
posite position.  We  quote  a  most  important  series  of 
statistics  (given  in  his  "'La  Femme  Criminelle'\ 
pp.  320—21,  Paris   1896):  — 

"  With  regard  to  the  genital  organs,  I  have  been 
able  to  find  among  prostitutes,  hypertrophy  of  the 
labia  minora  in  16  *^/o,  and  monstruous  in  2  cases;  in 
6  cases  it  was  accompanied  by  hypertrophy  of  the 
clitoris  and  of  the  labia  majora. 


268  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

Gurrieri  noticed  an  exaggerated  development  of  the 
clitoris  in  1 3  °/o  ^^^  ^  3  °/o  also  in  the  development  of 
the  labia  minora ;  there  was  excessive  development  of 
the  labia  majora  in  6,5  %   of  the  cases  observed, 

Riccardi  noted  on  30  prostitutes  observed  by  him: 
5  \vith  hypertrophy  of  the  labia  minora; 
2      „  „  „      „     clitoris; 

I      „      hypospadia      „      „ 

Gurrieri  found  among  60  prostitutes: 
8  cases  of  hypertrophy  of  the  cHtoris; 
8       „       excessive  development  of  the  labia  minora. 

A  woman  who  had  gained  celebrity  as  an  adulteress 
as  well  as  a  murderess  from  lascivious  motives,  had 
an  enormous  development  of  the  clitoris  and  of  the 
labias  minora:  almost  all  the  pseudo  hermaphrodites 
noted  by  De  Crecchio  and  Hoffmann  had  exaggerated 
sexual  tendencies,  either  towards  the  one  or  towards 
the  other  sex. 

However,  I  am  of  opinion  that  excepting  the  richer 
pilose  development,  the  anomalous  condition  of  the 
organ  does  not  correspond  with  the  extent  of  vice,  at 
all  events  not  in  the  proportion  that  has  been  asserted. 

Among  3000  prostitutes,  Parent-Duchatelet  found 
only  three  with  an  exaggerated  development  of  the 
clitoris,  which  in  one  case  reached  to  the  size  of  a 
child's  penis  (3,14  inches)  but  unaccompanied  with  any 
special  tendencies  nor  with  a  masculine  aspect,  and 
notwithstanding  the  absence  of  uterus,  of  menstruation 
and  of  breasts:  she  declared  that  misery  had  driven 
her  to  this  unhappy  trade,  which  she  would  gladly 
renounce.  The  other  two  showed  no  trace  of  herma- 
phrodism  and  were  quite  indifferent.  Among  the 
numerous  hairy  ones  {barbues)  there  was  no  anomaly 
of  the  clitoris,  nor  any  special  tendencies. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  269 

The  profession  does  neither  widen  nor  deform  the 
vagina,  as  it  is  supposed;  there  are  neo-prostitutes, 
with  enlarged  vagina  and  vice  versa." 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  Penitentiary  and  its  occupants.  —  Transported  critniuals,  or 
old  comncts.  —  Horrible  customs  of  the  convicts.  —  The  innate 
liking  of  the  Arab  for  pederasty.— A  crew  under  the  ^' Caudine 
forks." — Ferocious  lust  of  the  African  Arabs.  —  The  Arab  as  an 
active  pederast.- — Pederasty  is  primarily  a  question  of  race. — 
The  organ  of  generation  in  the  Arab.- 

Transported  Criminals,  or  Old  Convicts.  Form- 
erly there  were  sent  to  the  hulks,  under  the  name 
of  convicts,  those  condemned  to  hard  labour.  In  the 
present  day,  they  are  sent  to  the  penal  colonies,  and 
are  said  to  be  "transported".  The  hulks  is  called  "a 
penitentiary", — a  mere  change  of  name,  for  the  in- 
stitution is  exactly  the  same. 

When  transportation  first  commenced,  in  1854,  it 
was  intended  to  renew  at  Guiana,  on  a  large  scale, 
the  attempts  at  forming  an  agricultural  colony  which 
began  in  the  time  of  Louis  XIV,  and  Louis  XV,  and 
reform  the  criminal  by  giving  him  the  moral  stimulus 
of  labour.  This  attempt  failed,  on  the  whole.  Ac- 
cording to  the  medical  statistics,  the  average  life  of 
the  convict  was  hardly  more  than  twenty  months,  in 
the  Colony,  and,  ten  years  later,  Guiana  was  aban- 
doned for   New  Caledonia. 

Foreign  criminals  continued  to  be  sent  there  (from 
the   Antilles,  Reunion,  India,  and  even  some  Annam- 

270 


UNTRODDEN  FIELDS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY.     271 

ites)  for  crimes  against  civil  law,  and  especially  the 
Arabs,  who  alone  formed  a  great  part  of  the  popu- 
lation of  the  Penitentiary.  The  only  convicts  now 
sent  to  Guiana  are  a  few  white  criminals,  art  work- 
men, and  clerks.  At  present,  these  form  but  a  small 
minority,  but  in  reahty  they  are  the  leaders  of  the 
Penitentiary. 

Fearful  Immorality  of  the  Convicts.  ^  The  con- 
vict, though  disguised  under  the  name  of  the  trans- 
ported prisoner,  has  retained  all  the  horrible  immorality 
special  to  the  hulks.  These  habits,  in  the  opinion  of 
certain  moralists,  arise  from  the  men  being  deprived 
of  the  feminine  element.  I  believe,  however,  that  this 
is  but  a  secondary  cause;  and  that  the  real  source  of 
unnatural  vice  is  hereditary  depravity.  It  is  a  law  of 
atavism,  and  a  real  mental  disease,  as  medical  science 
has  now  pointed  out.  In  all  assemblies  of  human 
beings,  "like  will  to  like",  and  private  associations 
are  formed  between  people  having  the  same  tastes, 
and  the  same  habits. 

When    transportation    first   began,    a    good  many  of 
the  convicts  married,  and  set  to  work  to  cultivate  the 
land    which    was    granted    them    by  the  Government. 
Of   all   the   establishments    so   founded,    one    only  has 

'  The  following  note  is  by  J.  A  Symonds :  "  Balzac  in  Une  der- 
niere  incarnation  de  Vaiitrin,  describes  the  morals  of  the  P'rench 
bagnes.  Dostoieffsky  in  "  Prison  life  in  Siberia ",  touches  on  the  same 
subject.  See  his  portrait  of  Sirotkin,  pp.  52  et  seq.,  p.  120  (Edition 
J.  &  R.  Maxwell,  London).  We  may  compare  Carlier,  Les  Deux 
Prostitutions  (pp.  300 — i),  for  an  account  of  the  violence  of  homosexual 
passions  in  French  prisons.  The  initiated  are  familiar  with  the  fact  in 
English  prisons.  Bouchard,  in  his  "Confessions"  (Paris,  Liseux,  1881)-, 
describes  the  convict  station  at  Marseilles  in    1630. 

H.  Ellis,   Sexual  Inversion,  p.    13.  London,    1897,  in  8vo. 


272  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS  OF 

survived,  the  Penitentiary  of  St,  Lawrence  at  Maroni, 
which  still  lingers  on,  thanks  to  a  subsidy  from  the 
mother  country. 

In  order  that  the  white  race  may  prosper  in  a  climate 
so  unhealthy,  it  must  have  the  support  of  black  blood. 
The  Negro,  though  shallow-witted,  is  honest  at  bottom, 
and  has  a  considerable  contempt  for  the  transported 
prisoner;  no  Negress,  however  low  she  might  be, 
would  consent  to  ally  herself  with  a  convict, — a  Govern- 
ment slave  as  she  calls  him.  The  despatch  of  the 
white  criminals  to  New  Caledonia  consequently  caused 
the  Arab  element  to  predominate  at  Guiana,  and  in- 
creased the  vice  of  sodomy,  instead  of  diminishing  it. 
I  shall  devote  a  chapter  specially  to  the  white  convicts 
of  New  Caledonia,  but,  for  the  present,  I  shall  only 
occupy  myself  with  the  foreign  convicts. 

We  know  already  the  Negro  of  Guiana,  and  his 
brother  of  the  Antilles  diifers  but  little  from  him.  As 
to  the  Negro  of  Senegal,  he  is  very  rarely  found  in 
the  Penitentiary.  We  have  studied  also  the  Hindoo 
and  the  Annamite.  There  remains  to  speak  about  the 
Arab  convict. 

The  Innate  Liking  of  the  Arab  for  Sodomy.     The 

Arab  is  an  inveterate  pederast,  even  in  his  own 
country,  where  there  is  no  lack  of  women.  He  willingly 
puts  into  practice  the  parable  which  is  attributed  to 
the  Koran  .■  ^  "A  man  finding  one  day  that  the 
principal  door  of  his  house  was  blocked  up  with  filth, 
determined  to  enter  by  the  back  door." 

'  Our  author  is  here  undoubtedly  in  error.  Islam,  large  and  generous 
in  all  that  relates  to  normal  sexual  intercourse,  stamps  unnatural  practices 
with  peculiar  abhoiTence.  We  quote  from  Charles  Hamilton's  "•Hedaya 
or  Guide,  a  Commentary  of  Mvsiihnan  Law,^  — "  translated  by  order  of 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  273 

I  do  not  know  whether  this  parable  is  really  to  be 
found  in  the  Koran,  but  the  Arab  acts  as  though  it 
were.  The  fact  has  been  observed  by  all  travellers 
and  moralists  who  have  been  in  Arabia  and  Tunis. 

A  Crew  under  the  "  Caudine  Forks  ".  The  Arab 
tribes  of  the  coasts  of  Algeria  and  Morocco,  it  is  well- 
known,  take  by  force  the  unfortunate  wretches  who 
are  wrecked  on  their  shores.  A  little  time  before  the 
Algerian  expedition,  a  French  ship  of  war,  a  brig 
called  the  Silenus,  was  thrown  on  the  African  coast, 
and    all    the    crew    had    to   pass   under  the    "  Caudine 

the  Governor  General  and  Council  of  Bengal." — 4  vols  410.  London, 
1791. 

In  chap.  IV  (of  vol.  I,  page  167)  "of  the  Marriage  of  Slaves"  the 
following  remarkable  paragraph  is  given. 

If  a  man  marry  the  female  slave  of  another,  and  be  desirous  of  com- 
mitting the  act  of  Azil  with  her  (i.e.  emissro  Setntm's  in  Ano,  vel 
inter  Mamillas),  this  shall  depend  upon  her  master's  permission,  ac- 
cording to  Hancefa ;  and  such  also  is  the  Zdhir  Rawdyet. — According 
to  the  two  disciples,  the  permission  for  this  act  rests  with  the  slave, 
because  [as  being  the  man's  wife]  carnal  connexion  is  her  right,  but  by 
Azil  that  carnal  connexion  which  is  her  right  is  frustrated ;  her  consent, 
therefore,  is  a  requisite  condition  to  the  legality  of  the  act,  the  same  as 
that  of  a  free  woman,  contrary  to  the  case  of  a  female  slave,  who  is 
the  property  of  the  person  having  such  connexion  with  her,  because 
carnal  connexion  is  not  her  right  (whence  it  is  that  she  is  not  entitled 
to  claim  the  carnal  act  of  her  master  or  owner),  and  consequently  her 
consent  is  not  a  condition.  —  The  principle  upon  which  the  Zdhir  Rawdyet 
proceeds  in  this  case  is,  that  the  act  of  Azil  defeats  the  intention  of 
marriage,  which  is  the  production  of  children,  and  this  is  a  right  of  the 
master ;  whence  it  is  thas  his  consent  is  a  condition,  and  not  that  of  the 
slave. — And  herein  appears  a  distinction  between  the  state  of  a  free 
woman  and  that  of  a  slave  [in  marriage]. 

In  vol.  IV,  of  Hamilton's  "  Guide  "  further  information  is  found  under 
the  significant  heading  of  "Abominations"  and  we  have  given  an 
extract  of  same,  bearing  upon  our  subject,  at  the  end  of  the  present 
chapter. 


274  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

forks  " ,  whether  they  liked  it  or  not.  Amongst  them 
was  a  young  naval  officer,  ^  who  suffered  the  same 
fate  as  the  others.  One  day — some  years  after  the 
taking  of  Algiers — in  a  drawing-room  in  Paris,  a  lady 
who  was  known  to  be  rather  "fast",  and  very  free- 
spoken,  asked  him,  with  an  air  half  serious  half  jesting, 

if  he  had  really  been "forked". 

"Madame,"  he  replied  coolly,  "imagine  yourself  for 
the  moment  in  my  place.  If  there  was  before  you  a 
sabre  ready  to  cut  your  head  off,  and  behind  you  a 
big  Tooh,  what  would  you  do?.  I  went  backwards, 
and  I  think  you  would  have  done  the  same." 

Ferocious  Lust  of  the  African  Arabs.  Less 
fortunate  than  these  sailors,  is  the  unfortunate  wretch 
who  falls  into  the  hands  of  these  infuriated  beasts. 
They  will  commence  by  robbing  him  of  all  he  has, 
not  leaving  him  even  a  shirt.  What  follows  need  not 
be  described,  suffice  it  to  say,  that  however  numerous 
the  Arabs  may  be,  they  will  all  satisfy  their  brutal 
and  ignoble  passions.  Fortunate  will  it  be  for  their 
victim  if  he  has  not  fallen  into  the  hands  of  fanatics, 
for  horrible  mutilations  will  follow  his  first  torment, 
and  after  having  thus  tortured  him,  they  will  leave 
him  naked,  but  still  living,  to  the  hot  sun,  which  will 
end  his   sufferings  eventually.  * 

'  Burton  relates  a  similar  experience  (in  the  loth  vol.  of  his 
"  N>ghts^\  page  235).  The  original,  Benares  edition  of  course;  in  the 
reprints  all  the  real,  anthropological  notes  have  been  carefully  omitted 
for  fear  of  Mother  Grundy's  wrath  and  .  . .   the  Purity  Society's  man ! 

Those  students  unable  to  procure  the  original  edition  will  find  the 
famous  essay  of  the  lOth  vol.  containing  the  anecdote  in  question, 
reproduced  in  exteriso  in  Marriage-love  and  Women  amongst  the  Arabs." 
(Paris,    1896.) 

'  Dix-huit    mille  licues  a  t ravers  Ic  Monde,  par  Jules  Desfontaines. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  275 

It  is  unnecessary  to  quote  other  authorities  ;■  this 
will  suffice.  That  horrible  instrument  of  torture,  the 
pal,  was  invented  by  the  Arabs,—  it  may  be  added. 

Active  Pederasty  of  the  Arab.  The  Arab  is, 
almost  exclusively,  an  active  pederast.  The  youths 
and  boys,  who,  in  Arabia  and  all  Mussulman  coun- 
tries, prostitute  themselves  for  money,  are,  in  the 
beginning,  passive  agents.  I  do  not  know  whether, 
when  they  have  become  men,  they  change  their  part 
and  become  active  agents,  but  at  Guiana,  amongst 
the  Arab  convicts,  who  are  all  addicted  to  this  vice, 
I  never  met  any  but  active  agents.  For  "  patients" 
they  take, — if  they  cannot  find  women  who  will  lend 
themselves  to  these  disgusting  practices, — Hindoo 
coolies,  or  white  criminals  either  undergoing  their 
sentence,  or  released,  but  very  rarely  Negroes,  except 
a  few  depraved  lads.  I  have  mentioned  an  instance  of 
this  a  few  pages  earlier.  Some  Arabs  have  demanded, 
and  legally  married  before  the  Mayor,  a  female 
prisoner  from  the  Penitentiary,  but  they  have  never 
tried  to  get  any  children  by  her,  and  only  use  anal 
copulation  with  her.  These  Arabs  also  leave  their 
wives  free  to  gain  their  living  as  they  think  best,  on 
condition  that  they  bring  the  money  to  their  Mussul- 
man husbands.  The  Governors  of  the  Penitentiaries 
at  last  discovered  these  goings  on,  and  ended  by 
refusing  permission  to  these  worthy  followers  of  Ma- 
homet to  take  a  lawful  wife,  and  so  the  Arab  in  Guiana, 
both  by  taste  and  necessity,  remains  a  pederast. 

Pederasty   is  principally  a  Question  of  Race. ' 

'  The  reader  will  recollect,  that  the  author  is  in  direct  conflict  with 
the    view    held    by   Sir  Richard  Burton,  regarding  the  origin  and  preva- 


276  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS   OF 

A  Strange  fact  is,  that  the  Arab,  an  active  pederast, 
is  provided  with  a  genital  organ,  which,  for  size  and 
length,  rivals  that  of  the  Negro.  It  is  even  larger 
than  that  of  the  Negro  of  Guiana,  but  is  surpassed 
in  turn  by  that  of  the  Negro  of  Senegal.  But,  whilst 
this  last  is  rarely  addicted  to  unnatural  acts,  with  the 
Semitic  Arab  it  is  almost  a  general  rule.  A  physical 
cause  might  be  understood,  as  for  instance  a  very 
small  penis,  as  in  the  Annamite,  who  is  almost  as 
great  a  pederast  as  the  Arab.  It  is  certain,  that  the 
friction  of  the  penis  against  the  sphincter,  which  pos- 
sesses, as  we  know,  great  contractile  power,  is  greater 
than  it  would  be  in  a  vagina,  dilated  and  relaxed  by  the 
heat  of  the  climate,  especially  if  affected  by  the  "  flowers" 

lence  of  homosexual  passion.  But  on  the  other  hand  it  is  proper  to 
point  out  that  J.  A.  Symonds,  in  his  Proble?n  in  Modern  Ethics, 
contests  Burton's  position,  and  maintains  that  Burton's  knowledge  of  the 
subject  was  incomplete.  We  quote  from  page  JJ  :  "Though  he  (Bur- 
ton) possesses  a  copious  store  of  anthropological  details,  he  is  not  at  the 
proper  point  of  view  for  discussing  the  topic  philosophically.  For  ex- 
ample, he  takes  for  granted  that  'Pederasty'  as  he  calls  it,  is  every- 
where and  always  what  the  vulgar  think  it.  He  seems  to  have  no 
notion  of  the  complicated  psychology  df  Timings,  revealed  to  us  by  their 
recently  published  confessions  in  French  and  German  medical  and  legal 
works." 

In  a  foot-note,  Symonds  further  adds :  "  Burton's  acquaintance  with 
what  he  called  '  Le  Vice '  was  principally  confined  to  Oriental  nations. 
He  started  on  his  enquiries  imbued  with  vulgar  errors ;  and  he  never 
weighed  the  psychical  theories  examined  by  me  in  the  foregoing  section 
of  this  essay.  Nevertheless,  he  was  led  to  surmise  a  crasis  of  the  two 
sexes  in  persons  subject  to  sexual  inversion.  Thus  he  came  to  speak  of 
the  'third  sex'.  During  a  conversation  I  had  with  him  less  than  three 
months  before  his  death,  he  told  me  that  he  had  begun  a  general  his- 
tory of  "Le  Vice";  and  at  my  suggestion  he  studied  Ulrichs  and  Krafft- 
Ebing,  It  is  to  be  lamented  that  life  failed  before  he  could  supply  his 
virile  and  candid  criticism  to  those  theories,  and  compare  them  with  the 
facts  Kod  conversation  he  had  independently  collected." 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  277 

The   Organ  of  Generation  of  the  Arab.     If  the 

Annamite  can  plead  such  an  excuse,  the  Arab  can- 
not. We  are,  therefore,  compelled  to  acknowledge, 
that  it  is  a  question  of  the  peculiar  moral  sense  of 
each  race.  The  Arabs  I  examined,  and  who  for  the 
most  part  had  been  sentenced  for  rapes,  or  sodomy, 
committed  upon  children  of  either  sex,  in  the  propor- 
tions of  their  genital  members  considerably  surpassed 
the  fair  average  of  the  Negroes.  In  the  bodies  of 
many  Arabs  I  dissected,  the  penis,  instead  of  being 
drawn  up  and  reduced  to  a  small  volume,  like  that 
of  the  European,  still  showed  a  considerable  develop- 
ment. 

In  its  usual  condition,  their  yard,  instead  of  being 
quite  limp,  still  maintains  a  certain  consistency,  and 
feels  to  the  hand  like  hollow  india-rubber,  or  like  the 
penis  of  the  Negro,  of  which  I  have  spoken.  The 
gland  is  of  a  normal  form,  well-developed,  and  of  a 
dirty  red  brown,  Hghter,  however,  than  that  of  the 
Mulatto,  but  not  so  red  as  that  of  the  Quadroon.  It 
is,  in  proportion,  smaller  than  the  shaft  of  the  penis, 
which  is  swollen  a  little  underneath;  the  maximum 
diameter  is  found  where  the  foreskin  is  cut  in  circum- 
cising. This  part  of  the  penis  sometimes  swells  out. 
like  a  sort  of  external  pad.  According  to  the  measure- 
ments I  made,  the  penis  of  the  Arab  has  an  average 
length,  when  in  erection,  of  7.2  to  7.6  inches  by  1,6 
or  2.0  inches  in  diameter;  but  I  have  found  often  a 
penis  measuring  8  to  10  inches  in  length,  by  2.0  or 
2.4  in  diameter.  The  organ  then  becomes  a  sort  of 
pole  which  only  a  Negress  could  accommodate  whilst 
a  Hindoo  woman  of  the  class  called  "  woman  hare  " 
would  shrink  from  it  in  terror,  and  it  would  produce 
serious  mischief  in  the  rectum  of  any  poor  wretch  who 


278  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

consented  to  suifer  its  terrible  attacks.  ^  With  such 
a  weapon  does  the  Arab  seek  for  anal  copulation.  He 
is  not  particular  in  his  choice,  and  age  or  sex  makes 
no  difference  to  him.  At  the  hulks,  he  finds  amongst 
the  other  convicts,  Blacks  or  Hindoos,  or  even  Whites, 
the  scum  of  the  great  cities,  upon  whom  he  can  satisfy 
his  miserable  lust.  When  once  he  is  liberated,  he 
lives  soberly,  and  tries  to  gain  a  few  pence  by  keep- 
ing a  store,  or  a  small  retail  shop.  He  easily  gets 
also  a  place  as  foreman  in  the  diggings,  or  where 
Hindoos  are  employed.  His  abstinence  from  alcohol 
makes  him  a  capital  man  to  keep  a  grog  shop,  and 
his  physical  strength  inspires  a  salutary  dread.  Those 
who  employ  him  are  acquainted  with  his  vice,  and 
this  vice  necessarily  brings  him  before  the  tribunals, 
when  he  has  tried  to  use  violence  to  some  hired  coolie, 
who  has  objected  to  his  advances,  not  from  modesty, 
but  from  a  fear  of  being  impaled. 

EXCURSUS  I  TO  CHAPTER  V. 

Small  size  of  Penis.  Over  against  the  inordinate 
dimensions  of  the  member  here  described,  we  may 
place  the  following: — taken  from  the  "ZCttSCbttft 
tur  EtbnolOai?/'    (Berlin,    1871,  8vo  pp.   113,  14,  15). 

"  It  is  a  known  2  fact,  Avhich  I  can  confirm  that  the 
Taui  islanders  are  in  the  habit  of  adopting  for  sole  gar- 
ment a  mussel  shell  {Bulla  ovum)  within  which  they 
hide  their  penis.  Having  purchased  and  examined  a 
great  number  of  these  "garments",  I  was  convinced 
that  the  opening  of  the  shells  had  been  but  slightly 
enlarged;    I    therefore   thought   it   not    unimportant  to 

*  See  Excursus  IV. 

*  Waitz-Gerland,   Anthropologie  Jer  Nattirvulker,  Part.  VI,  p.   556. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  279 

ascertain  whether  the  prepuce  only  or  also  the  gland 
had  been  enclosed  in  the  opening  of  the  mussel.  The 
close  examination  of  the  penis  of  a  native  (obtained 
thanks  to  a  rich  present)  ^  showed  that  the  gland  of  the 
penis  was  really  inserted  into  the  mussel.  But,  as  the 
artificially  enlarged  orifice  of  the  mussel  could  barely 
accommodate  the  entrance  of  the  little  finger,  this  sin- 
gular custom  can  only  be  explained  by  the  extreme 
smallness  of  the  virile  member.  To  prove  that  this 
"  costume"  does  not  at  all  compress  the  penis,  it  may 
be  added  that  without  detaching  the  shell,  the  natives 
are  able  to  make  water,  another  opening  being  made 
at  the  other  end  to  let  it  escape. 

The  small  size  of  the  penis  is  the  same  here  (Ago- 
mes  Islands)  as  among  the  Taui  islanders.  The  little- 
ness of  the  virile  member  among  these  people  was  so 
evident  that  it  was  a  source  of  astonishment  to  the  crew 
of  our  schooner,  and  gave  rise  to  many  remarks.  My 
attention  was  drawn  to  it  by  my  servant  and  I  man- 
aged by  chance  to  be  able  to  take  a  rapid  sketch  from 
nature  of  an  example.  The  penis  of  a  strong,  grown- 
up man  looked  exactly  as  if  it  was  withdrawn  into 
the  skin,  leaving  the  gland  alone  exposed,  which  was 
entirely  free,  the  skin  behind  the  prepuce  being  gath- 
ered up  in  circular  folds.  When  the  man  was  erect 
the  position  of  his  member  was  horizontal.  This  size 
of  the  penis  seems  to  be  general,  although  individual 
exceptions  may  occur.  Notwithstanding  all  my  efforts 
I   could  never  succeed  in  inducing  any  of  the  natives 

*  During  this  examination  the  above  native  was  extremely  afraid  of 
my  withdrawing  his  mussel;  this  prudery,  combined  with  the  very 
primitive  nature  of  the  ''  costume  "  reminded  me  much  of  the  "■  mogull " 
or  disgrace  of  exposing  the  naked  gland  in  Pelau  and  of  the  shame  the 
Polynesians  in  general  have  at  the  sight  of  it. 

Waitz-Gerland,  loc.  cit.  Part  VI,  p.   28. 


280  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   UF 

to  allow  me  to  examine  them,  and  it  was  therefore 
impossible  for  me  to  take  any  exact  measures  or  draw- 
ings. But  a  chance  observation  of  three  men  showed 
me  that  the  member  of  the  youngest  (about  20  years 
old)  was  longer  than  that  of  the  two  others.  In  youth 
the  smallness  of  the  penis  is  not  observable. 

The  fact  of  the  littleness  of  the  virile  member  among 
these  Melanesian  peoples  is  the  more  remarkable  that 
the  negroes  who,  among  all  human  races,  after  the 
Hottentots  and  the  Kaffirs,  come  nearest  to  the  Poly- 
nesians, are,  on  the  contrary,  distinguished  by  the  large 
dimensions  of  their  member. 

EXCURSUS  II  TO  CHAPTER  V. 

ILLUSTRATING   note   ON   PAGE    284. 

ISTIBRA  ^   OR    WAITING    FOR   THE   PURIFICATION 

OF   WOMEN. 

"  A  man,  when  he  purchases  a  female  slave,  is  not 
permitted  either  to  enjoy  her,  or  to  touch,  or  kiss  her, 
of  look  at  her  pudenda,  in  lust,  until  after  her  Istibra, 
or  purification  from  her  next  ensuing  courses ;  for 
when  the  captives  taken  in  the  battle  of  Autiiss  were 
brought  thence,  the  prophet  ordained  that  no  man 
should   have   carnal   connexion   with  pregnant  women 

'  A  phrazeology  runs  throughout  this  section  which  renders  the 
transhition  of  it  into  English  jwrticularly  difficult,  as  the  precise  meaning 
of  the  term  Istibra  cannot  be  expressed  by  any  single  word  in  our 
language. — The  best  Arabic  lexicons  design  Istibra  to  signify :  "  the 
purification  of  the  7vofnb".  The  term,  however,  must  here  be  received 
in  a  more  involved  sense;  for  Istibra  d(x>s  not,  in  fact,  mean  simply 
purification,  but  a  desire  of,  or  (as  rendered  in  the  text)  a  waiting  for 
purification ;  for  which  reason  the  translator  renders  it  purification,  or 
abstinence,  as  best  suits  the  content. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  281 

until  after  their  delivery  or  with  others  until  after  one 
menstruation ;  which  evinces  that  the  abstinence  so 
enjoined  is  incumbent  on  a  proprietor;  and  further, 
that  the  occurrence  of  right  of  property  and  of  posses- 
sion is  the  occasion  of  its  being  incumbent.  The  end 
proposed  in  this  regulation  is,  that  it  may  be  ascer- 
tained whether  conception  has  not  already  taken  place 
in  the  womb,  in  order  that  the  issue  may  not  be 
doubtful. 

Abstinence  until  after  purification  is  incumbent  on 
the  buyer,  but  not  on  the  seller;  for  the  true  reason 
of  its  necessity  is  the  desire  of  copulation ;  and  as  the 
buyer  is  presumed  to  possess  this  desire,  and  not  the 
seller,  the  observance  of  it  is  therefore  enjoined  him, 
and  not  the  other.  If,  moreover,  desire  be  an  internal 
operation  of  the  mind,  the  obligation  of  the  law,  in 
this  particular,  rests  upon  the  argument  of  such  desire. 
Now  the  mere  power  of  committing  the  carnal  act  is 
an  argument  of  the  desire  for  such  act;  and  as  this 
power  is  established  only  by  property  and  possession, 
it  follows  that  property  and  possession  are  the  occasions 
of  this  obligation  of  abstinence.  This  law,  therefore, 
extends  to  a  right  of  property,  in  all  its  different  modes 
of  being  acquired,  such  as  by  purchase,  donation, 
legacy,  inheritance,  covenants,  etc.,  whence  it  is  that 
this  abstinence  is  enjoined  upon  a  person,  who  buys  a 
female  slave,  either  from  an  infant,  or  a  woman,  or 
from  a  slave  licenced  to  trade,  '  or  from  a  person  who 
is  by  law  prohibited  from  having  any  carnal  connexion 

'  The  slave  licenced  to  trade  is,  in  this  case,  supposed  to  have  been 
prohibited  from  cohabiting  with  the  slave,  as  the  goods  he  sells  or 
purcha&es  are  presumed  to  be  the  property  of  another,  namely,  his 
master. 


282  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS   OF 

with  her.  In  the  same  manner,  also,  this  abstinence 
is  incumbent  where  a  person  buys  a  female  slave  who 
is  a  virgin ;  for  the  law  proceeds  according  to  the 
proof  of  the  cause  which  prompted  it,  and  not  according 
to  the  proof  of  the  propriety  or  expediency,  as  these 
relate  to  what  is  internal  and  unknown. 

If  a  person  purchase  a  female  slave  during  her 
menstruation  no  regard  is  paid  to  this  menstruation 
with  respect  to  determining  the  abstinence.  ^  In 
the  same  manner,  also,  no  regard  is  paid  to  a 
menstruation  which  occurs  between  the  time  of  taking 
possession  and  the  time  of  the  right  of  property  being 
established,  by  purchase,  or  the  like ; — and  so  likewise, 
regard  is  not  paid  to  the  delivery  of  a  female  slave 
between  the  establishment  of  a  right  of  property  in 
her,  and  the  act  of  taking  possession  (contrary,  how- 
ever, to  the  opinion  of  Aboo  Yoosaf). — The  reason  of 
this  ,  is,  that  the  occurrence  of  right  of  property  and 
possession  is  the  cause  of  purification  being  required ; 
and  the  obligation  of  observing  the  purification  is  an 
effect  of  property  and  possession ;  and  the  effect  can- 
not take  place  before  the  occurrence  of  the  cause. 
The  same  rule  holds  with  regard  to  such  menstruous 
purgations  as  may  happen  previous  to  the  procuring 
of  sanction,  in  the  case  of  an  unauthorized  sale  of  a 
female  slave,  notwithstanding  the  purchaser  may  be 
seized  of  her; — and  so  likewise,  where  the  courses 
happen  after  the  seizing  in  the  case  of  an  illegal  contract 
of  sale,  and  before  the  slave  is  purchased  by  a  vali4 
contract :  for  in  none  of  all  these  cases  do  the  present 
courses  determine  the  abstinence. 

'  Arab.  Fee  babal  If  libra ;  (literally)  " /«  point  of  purification", 
meaning  that  purification  requisite  to  determine  the  abstinence  imposed 
on  the  purchaser  of  a  female  slave. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  283 

Abstinence  is  requisite  in  the  case  of  a  partnership 
female  slave,  where  one  of  two  partners  purchases  the 
other's  share ;  for  here  the  cause  is  complete,  and  upon 
the  completion  of  the  cause  the  effect  takes  place. 

If  a  person  purchase  a  Magian  female  slave,  or 
receive  her  in  donation,  and  she,  after  his  taking  pos- 
session of  her,  have  her  courses,  and  then  become  a 
Musiimd, — or,  if  a  person  purchase  a  female  slave, 
and  make  her  a  Mokatibd,  and  she,  after  his  taking 
possession  of  her,  having  voided  her  courses,  prove 
unable  to  discharge  her  ransom, — such  courses  are 
sufficient  to  establish  the  requisite  purification,  in  either 
of  these  cases,  as  having  happened  after  the  occurrence 
of  the  cause  for  waiting,  namely,  right  of  property  and 
possession. 

In  cases  where  a  female  slave,  having  eloped,  returns 
to  her  master, — or,  having  been  taken  away,  or  hired 
out,  is  restored, — or,  having  been  pawned,  is  redeemed 
— abstinence  is  not  requisite,  for  the  cause  of  it 
(namely,  the  acquisition  of  property  and  possession) 
does  not  exist  in  either  instance.  In  every  case  where 
abstinence  is  enjoined,  and  carnal  connexion  prohibited, 
all  sorts  of  allurements  and  dalliance,  such  as  kissing 
and  hugging  are  likewise  prohibited,  as  these  lead  to 
the  commission  of -unlawful  acts.  Add  to  this,  the 
possibility  of  their  being  committed  on  the  property 
of  another,  as  may  happen  if  the  slave  prove  with 
child  and  the  seller  lay  claim  to  her.  (It  is  reported 
from  Afohain/ned  that  dalliance  with  a  captive  slave- 
girl  is  lawful.) 

The  purification  of  a  pregnant  female  slave  is  estab- 
lished  by  her   delivery,    and    that   of  a  girl   in  whom 


284  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS   OF 

the  menses  have  not  yet  appeared,  by  the  lapse  of  a 
month;  that  space  being,  with  respect  to  such  a  one, 
a  substitute  for  the  courses,  in  the  same  manner  as 
holds  in  the  case  of  a  woman  under  Edit.  ^  If,  however, 
the  menstrual  blood,  should  discharge  itself  before  the 
expiration  of  the  month,  the  purification  by  lapse  of 
time  is  annulled,  because  of  the  ability  with  respect 
to  the  original  circumstance,  prior  to  accomplishing 
the  object  of  the  substitute. 

It  is  not  lawful  for  a  person  who  has  given  abusive 
language  to  his  wife,  ^  either  to  look  at  her  pudenda 
in  lust,  or  to  cohabit  with  her,  or  to  kiss  or  touch 
her,  until,  such  time  as  he  have  performed  expiation, 
because,  as  it  is  unlawful  for  him  to  copulate  with  her 
until  after  expiation,  it  is  consequently,  unlawful  that 
he  enter  into  dalliances  with  her,  since  the  cause  of 
an  illegal  act  is  likewise  illegal ;— in  the  same  manner 
as  holds  in  cases  of  Ytticaf^  and  Ihrarn ;  *  or  where  a 
person,  by  mistake,  cohabits  with  the  wife  of  another, 
— in  which  case  she  must  observe  an  Edit;  during 
which,  as  it  is  unlawful  for  the  husband  to  have  con- 
nexion  with   his    wife,    so   it   is   likewise    unlawful  for 

'  See  Edit.,  Vol.  I.  p.  360. — There  seems  here  to  be  a  small 
mistake  in  the  text,  as  the  Edit,  of  a  female  slave  not  subject  to  the 
courses  is  determined  by   the  lapse  of  a  month  and  a  half. 

'  Literally,  "it  is  not  lawful  for  a  Mozahir"  meaning  a  person  who 
has  pronounced  a  sentence  of  zihdr  upon  his  wife.  (This  whole  passage 
will  be  better  understood  by  a  reference  to  zihdr.  Vol.  I.  p.  326.) 

*  Yticaf  is  a  religious  austerity  practised  by  the  most  pious  of  the 
Mtissuhnans  in  the  last  ten  days  of  the  month  of  Ramzan ;  they 
remain  during  that  period  in  a  mosque,  without  ever  departing  from  it 
but  when  the  calls  of  nature  absolutely  force  them,  abstracting  themselves 
at  the  same  time  from  all  enjoyments. 

*  Ihrdm  is  the  period  during  which  the  pilgrims  remain,  at  Mecca. — 
They  are  then  subject  to  a  number  of  strict  regulations,  and  are 
particularly  enjoined  to  refrain  from  all  worldly  pleasures. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  285 

him  to  use  any  of  its  incentives  with  her.  It  is 
otherwise  during  the  courses  or  tasting,  for,  although 
copulation  be  at  such  time  prohibited,  yet  dalliance  is 
lawful,  because  the  courses  are  frequent  and  of  long 
continuance,  engrossing  a  great  part  of  life,  as  they 
happen  once  every  month,  and  continue  ten  days  every 
time; — and,  in  the  same  manner,  the  days  of  fasting 
are  protracted  to  one  month  by  the  divine  ordinances, 
and  (among  pious  persons)  voluntarily  occupy  a  con- 
siderable part  of  life; — whence  if  dalliances  were  for- 
bidden during  those  terms,  it  would  tend  to  restrain 
men  too  much  in  their  enjoyments. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


The  convict  before  the  Court  Martial. — Military  law  applied  to 
the  convicts. —  Captain  B***,  President  of  the  Council  of  War. — 
Amusing  cases   tried  before   the    Council. 

Military  Law  applied  to  the  Convicts.     The  law 

which  authorised  transportation  to  Guiana,  was  fol- 
lowed by  a  second  law,  which  made  the  convicts 
amenable  to  the  military  tribunals  for  all  crimes  and 
offences  against  the  ordinary  penal  laws.  Besides  the 
Government  Commissioners  and  Deputies,  appointed 
in  France  by  the  Minister,  there  were  two  Councils  of 
War,  of  which  the  President  and  Judges  were  chosen 
amongst  the  officers  of  the  garrison  of  Cayenne.  The 
Council  of  Revision  was  composed  of  the  Colonel  com- 
manding, the  Captain  of  the  principal  war  vessel,  and 
the  Major  of  Marines.  The  two  senior  captains  of  the 
garrison  of  the  Colony  were,  ex  officio.  Presidents  of 
the  two  Councils  of  War.  It  might  be  imagined,  that 
an  officer  who  by  chance  found  himself  the  senior  on 
the  station,  and  who  was  suddenly  called  upon  to  apply 
the  Penal  Code,  without  any  previous  study  or  ex- 
perience, might  feel  embarrassed.  But,  bah!  a  trans- 
ported ex-criminal  was  not  worth  much  regard.  A  fresh 
sentence  of  a  few  years,  more  or  less,  was  of  no  great 
consequence. 

286 


UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY.  287 

The  unfortunate  convicts  had  a  terrible  sword  of 
Damocles,  suspended  over  their  heads.  This  was  the 
Draconian  article  of  the  Code  relating  to  old  offenders, 
—  which  of  course  all  the  transported  prisoners  and  ticket- 
of-leave  men  were.  Offences  punishable  only  by  im- 
prisonment, for  criminals  condemned  by  the  common 
law,  involved,  for  the  convicts,  a  return  to  the  Peniten- 
tiary for  a  minimum  period  of  five  years,  or  the  maxi- 
mum penalty  of  twenty  years  at  the  hulks,  might  be 
doubled.  I  saw  a  coiner  condemned  to  death  for 
having  made  a  Papal  coin  of  half  a  franc,  or  five 
pence,  out  of  lead.  It  should  be  mentioned,  that  this 
convict  had  already  been  sentenced  to  hard  labour  for 
life  for  coining.  Being  an  old  offender,  it  was  neces- 
sary to  inflict  a  heavier  sentence  than  hard  labour  for 
life,  that  is  to  say,  the  penalty  of  death.  It  is  needless 
to  say  the  convict  was  not  executed ;  his  sentence  was 
commuted  to  five  years  in  the  chain  gang,  but,  strictly 
speaking,  and  according  to  the  letter  of  the  law,  he 
ought  to  have  been  executed. 

Captain  B***,  President  of  the  Council  of  War. 

My  friend,  Captain  B***,  the  singer  of  smutty  songs, 
was  President  of  one  of  the  two  Councils.  The  post 
was  not  a  sinecure  for  him,  for  the  Council  met  twice 
a  week,  and  had,  at  each  sitting,  three  or  four  cases 
to  decide.  But  with  friend  B***,  the  business  did  not 
drag;  twenty  to  thirty  minutes  sufficed  to  hear,  and 
settle,  a  case.  The  advocate  of  the  accused,  a  subaltern 
officer  of  the  garrison,  specially  designated  for  the 
post,  knew  perfectly  well  that  no  attempt  at  defence 
would  be  any  good,  so  he  confined  himself  to  recom- 
mending his  client  to  the  mercy  of  the  Court — this 
mercy  generally  consisted  of  a  sentence  for  double  the 


288  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

maximum  penalty,  that  is  to  say,  forty  years.  That 
is  the  regular  tariff.  For  those  already  sentenced  to 
penal  servitude  for  life,  who  reappear  before  the  Council, 
the  sentence,  which  also  is  always  the  same,  is  five 
years  in  the  chain  gang.  The  worthy  Captain  B***, 
had  always  a  broad  grin  on  his  face  when  he  was 
pronouncing  sentence,  and  no  doubt  was  thinking  about 
the  smutty  songs  he  was  going  to  sing  in  the  evening. 
But  it  was  especially  in  attempted  rapes,  or  other 
offences  of  the  like  kind,  which  were  common  enough 
amongst  the  convicts,  that  the  jovial  obscenity  of  the 
President  showed  to  the  best  advantage.  '  He  evinced 
the  greatest  interest  in  these  cases,  tried  to  bring  out, 

*  The  following  sensible  remarks  on  cant  are  of  some  interest.  We 
take  them  from  Blondeau's  Diet.  Erot.  Latin — Frangais.  Paris,  Lisieux, 
1885.) 

"Why  do  writers,  and  the  people  also,  have  recourse  to  so  many 
metaphors,  periphrases,  and  circmnlocutions,  whenever  the  sexual  organs 
or  sexual  connection  are  in  question?  If  we  are  not  ashamed  of  being 
men,  why  should  we  only  dare  to  speak  in  covered  words  of  that  which 
in  us  is  the  manifestation  of  our  manhood?  Natiu-e  has  made  the 
union  of  the  sexes  the  condition  of  our  existence  and  of  the  propagation 
of  our  species,  and  has  attached  to  it,  in  view  of  this  perpetuity,  the 
most  powerful  attraction,  the  most  voluptuous  pleasure :  why  should  we 
dissimulate  it  as  if  it  were  an  offence  or  a  crime?  Why  stigmatize  as 
shameful  the  sexual  parts  upon  which  Nature  has  expended  all  her 
skill,  and  be  ashamed  to  show  that  of  which  we  ought  to  be  proud. 
Even  to  consider  the  naked  fact,  it  is  again  the  wish  of  Nature,  since 
she  has  made  it  a  necessity,  and  the  satisfying  of  a  necessity  can  have 
in  it  nothing  shameful.  Moralists  have  seen  in  this  singular  prudery, 
an  unjustifiable  hypocrisy. 

Listen  to  Montaigne.  "  What  has  the  genital  act  done  to  men,  an 
act  so  natural,  necessary  and  just,  that  they  dare  not  speak  of  it  openly, 
and  exclude  serious  and  regular  expressions  ?  We  bravely  say  KILL, 
UNROBE,  BETRAY,  and  THAT  only  between  the  teeth.  Does  that  mean 
that  the  less  we  say  in  words  the  more  there  is  in  our  thoughts?  For 
it  is  good  that  the  words  which  arc  the  least  used,  the  least  written 
and  the  best  hidden,  should  lie  the  best  learnt  and  known." 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  289 

in  the  course  of  the  trial,  the  most  indecent  side  of 
the  affair,  and  uttered  jokes  that  would  have  made  a 
dead  man  grin.  The  public,  the  gendarme  who  kept 
order,  and  often  the  prisoner  himself,  would  roar  with 
laughter;  but  the  verdict  was  always  the  forty  years, 
or  the  five  years,  as  the  case  might  be. 

Curious  Cases  tried  before  the  Council.  The 
worthy  Captain  B***,  informed  his  friends  and  acquaint- 
ances, whenever  any  case  of  at  all  a  "risky"  nature 
was  coming  before  the  Court.  Needless  to  say  the 
public  was  never  excluded  on  these  occasions,  in  order 
that  his  lady  friends  the  young  Mulattas  and  Quad- 
roons might  enjoy  the  entertainment.  The  President 
was  of  average  height,  rather  fat,  with  a  red  face 
framed  in  a  thick,  black  beard,  an^  lighted  up  by 
two  small  lascivious  eyes,  so  that  he  had  very  much 
the  appearance  of  a  satyr.  Anything  might  be  said 
before  him,  and  he  was  never  so  happy  as  when  he 
had  made  a  witness,  or  the  prisoner,  utter  some  gross 
obscenity. 

Moinaux's  Comic  Tribunal  ^  was  surpassed  by  a  long 
way.  I  confess  that,  for  my  part,  I  listened  to  the 
extraordinary  proceedings  before  this  tribunal  with  a 
great  deal  of  interest,  for  they  threw  a  strange  light 
on  the  worst  side  of  human  nature. 

*  A  small  illustrated  publication  that  used  to  chronicle  all  the  queer 
and  ludicrous  cases  appearing  before  the  French  law-courts. 

In  Regies  pour  former  un  avocat  (Chap.  13)  it  is  stated  that  "it 
was  formerly  the  custom  in  '  most  of  the  tribunals  of  the  kingdom,  to 
plead  on  Shrove-Tuesday  any  cause  of  a  specially  gay  and  spicy 
character.'  These  cases  were  called  "  warm  cases",  and  celebrated 
advocates,  it  is  said,  did  not  disdain  to  take  them  up." 

This  extract  is  given  on  the  authority  of  Bibliotheca  Scatalogica, 
Scatapolis  5850  (read  Paris  1849?);  a  singularly  well  informed  little  book 
on  books  of  a  scatalogical  nature,  mostly  in  French. 


290  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS    OF 

EXCURSUS  TO  CHAPTER  VL 

ON   CRIMINALITY   WITH   REGARD   TO   SEX   IN   THE 

ARAB   RACE. 

The  references  made  to  this  subject  in  the  preceding 
and  other  chapters  are  supported  by  the  following  evi- 
dence of  medical  specialists. 

On  Pederasty,  Sodomy,  Bestiality  and  Tribadism 

AMONGST   THE   ARABS,    by   DR.    A.    KOCKER.  ' 

Like  all  other  Orientals  the  Arab  is  z.  -pederast.  It 
may  be  remarked  that  this  vice  is  observed  principally 
among  nations  where  polygamy  is  permitted:  in  certain 
cases,  a  man  cloyed  with  enjoyment,  enervated  by 
excess,  seeks  in  sodomy  a  means  of  re-awakening  his 
desire,  in  other  cases  we  have  to  do  with  moral  herma- 
phrodites. 

Sodomy  was  denounced  in  Leviticus  and  by  Hip- 
pocrates ;  on  this  point  the  Koran  is  also  explicit,  and 
the  Mussulman  jurisconsults  have  edicted  the  most  severe 
penalties  against  it ;  we  read  in  fact  in  Sidi-Khalil  the 
following  passages : 

"  Any  Mussulman  of  either  sex,  free,  of  age  and 
responsible  for  his  or  her  acts  who  shall  have  com- 
mitted the  act  of  sodomy,  being  united  to  another  by 
the  bonds  of  a  legitimate  and  valid  marriage  materially 
consummated,  shall  be  stoned  to  death." 

•'  The  execution  will  take  place  with  stones  of  medium 
size  until  death  follows." 

'  '^  De  la  Criminalite  chez  les  Arabes  an  point  de  vue  de  la 
pratique  medicate  jndiciaire  en  Alge'rie"  par  Ic  Dr.  A.  Kocker,  Paris 
Bailliere  et  fils,    1884,  (pages    169  et  seq. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  291 

"  Any  individual  Mussulman  or  non  Mussulman,  free 
or  a  slave,  who  shall  be  found  gnilty  of  sodomy  shall 
be  stoned  to  death  together  with  his  accomplice,  even 
if  both  are  slaves  or  non  Mussulman  subjects."  ' 

For  those  who  are  unmarried  or  who  have  not  yet 
consummated  marriage  the  penalty  was  reduced  to  one 
hundred  strokes  of  the  bastinado. 

Notwithstanding  this  severe  legislation,  there  exists 
among  the  Arabs,  as  among  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans, 
and  among  the  Chinese  of  the  present  day,  a  disgust- 
ing race,  whom  laziness  and  the  love  of  lucre  impel  to 
exploit  the  perverted  passions  of  those  around  them. 

We  have  here  to  examine  two  actors,  the  passive 
and  the  active  sodomite. 

The  Arab  passive  agent  is  generally  young,  but  not 
effeminate  like  the  one  described  by  Tardieu.  He  is, 
on  the  contrary,  robust  and  well  set  up.  He  wears 
no  ornaments  likely  to  lead  to  suppose  that  another 
sex  was  hidden  beneath  his  burnous. 

If  this  is  the  case,  it  is  not  that  he  despises  jewelry, 
there  is  a  deeper  motive  underlying  his  apparent  dis- 
dain. If  he  wore  ornaments  he  would  come  nearer  in 
appearance  to  woman,  who  would  then  become  his 
equal,  he  would  therefore  be  outraging  himself:  a  vestige 
of  pride  is  still  hidden  beneath  his  ignominy.  He  might 
perhaps  also  lose  his  clients  who  would  no  longer  find 
in  him  the  acrid  pleasures  they  seek  for,  for  he  would 
then  in  too  many  ways  remind  them  of  their  wives. 

The  places  where  they  are  to  be  met  with  are 
generally  the  public  squares  and  the  Moorish  cafe's. 
There  they  pass  all  their  time,  smoking  Kif,  and 
drinking  coffee;  the  last  term  of  their  existence  is 
simply  moral  and  physical  degradation. 

*  Sidi  Khelit.    Transl.  by  Seignette,  art.    1948  and  following. 


292  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS  OF 

The  costume  of  the  passive  pederast  presents  a 
peculiarity  worthy  of  being  noted  and  which  was 
observed  by  Dr.  Bertherand.  Their  Turkish  pantaloons 
frequently  have  a7i  orifice  behind  on  a  level  with  the 
anus  and  perfectly  dissimulated  by  the  folds  of  the 
garment.  This  enables  them  commodiously  and 
without  undressing,  to  abandon  themselves  to  their 
shameful  trade.  This  orifice  must  always  be  looked 
after,  and  it  is  easy  to  understand  the  importance  that 
may  have  the  examination  of  the  stains  which  must 
almost  fatally  surround  it. 

The  expert,  who  is  charged  to  examine  these  indi- 
viduals is  often  struck  by  the  slight  amount  of  anal 
deformation  existing.  He  is  far  from  finding  among 
these  Arabs  the  characteristic  lesions  described  by 
Tardieu,  but  which  more  recent  observers  unanimously 
say  are  not  at  all  general. 

The  folds  of  the  anus  are  slightly  obliterated,  the 
infundibulum  is  usually  wanting  ;  those  triangular  basic 
erosions  situated  around  the  anus,  and  given  as  char- 
acteristic of  sodomy,  are  seldom  met  with.  Hardly 
is  there  to  be  found  sufficient  laxness  of  the  sphincters 
to  be  felt  with  the  finger.  It  is  evident  that  the 
examination  is  far  from  furnishing  such  precise  indica- 
tions as  might  reasonably  be  expected. 

So  far  for  the  passive  sodomite  who  gives  himself 
up  to  this  shameful  trade,  but  when  the  act  happens 
to  be  accomplished  with  violence  by  an  Arab  on 
young  children,  the  lesions  produced  are  absolutely 
characteristic  and  can  leave  no  doubt  whatever  as  to 
what  has  taken  place,  on  condition  however  that  the 
medico-legal  examination  be  not  too  long  deferred 
after  the  criminal  act  has  been  committed. 

The  active  pederast  is  seldom  an  interesting  subject 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  293 

of  study  unless  he  is  examined  a  few  moments  after 
the  accomplishment  of  the  act.  There  are  then  usually 
to  be  found  all  the  signs  of  recent  coition,  sometimes 
there  are  on  the  member  traces  of  blood,  of  sperm 
and  of  fecal  matter. 

But,  the  question  arises,  does  not  the  penis  assume 
any  particular  form  among  sodomites  who  have  been 
for   a   long   time    addicted  to  this  disgustiug  practice? 

This  important  point  we  now  pass  to  consider. 
Among  the  Arabs  the  gland  is  often  big  and  club- 
shaped,  the  penis  slim.  In  short,  their  virile  member 
presents  all  the  signs  mentioned  by  Tardieu  as  special 
to  pederasts.  The  consequence  of  this  generality  of 
conformation    is    that   these  signs   lose  all  their  value. 

The  examination  of  the  clothes  of  sodomites  may 
also  lead  to  interesting  discoveries.  Very  often  a  hole 
is  found  in  the  trowsers  at  about  the  level  of  the 
g-enito-crural  fold. 

Pederasty  amongst  Arabs : — {Trxi^vog  spxrxTui;),  the 
love  of  young  people,  consisting  mostly  in  finger 
touches,  is  also  observed  among  the  Arabs,  but  less 
frequently  than  sodomy ;  their  brutal  passions  being 
unable  to  find  therein  a  suflScient  aliment. 

Lesbian  love,  or  tribadism,  is  rare  among  the  Arab 
women.  It  would  seem  as  if  a  certain  degree  of 
civilization  were  necessary  to  give  birth  to  this  vice. 
The  cause  which  it  appears  most  natural  to  invoke 
in  explanation  of  this  fact,  is  the  absolute  absence  of 
erethism  in  the  Arab  woman.  She  is  simply  a  female. 
If  it  were  otherwise,  and  if  passion  came  to  animate 
these  sometimes  so  beautiful  statues,  would  not  these 
Arab  women  seek  to  emancipate  themselves  from  the 
servitude  in  which  their  husbands  keep  them? 


294  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF 

One  thing  is  worthy  of  remark :  the  friend  of  the 
Arab  woman  is  generally  an  Europdenne.  When 
fulfilling  the  duties  of  assistant-surgeon  at  the  Dis- 
pensary at  Algiers,  we  frequently  heard  the  female 
attendants  complain  of  the  scandalous  scenes  they  had 
been  obHged  to  witness  in  the  evening  in  the  courts,  and 
in  which  the  guilty  parties  were  always  of  different  race. 

In  Egypt,  sapphism,  it  would  appear,  is  almost  the 
fashion,  all  the  ladies  of  the  harem  have  each  of  them 
an  amie. 

Bestiality  is  sometimes  observed  among  the  Arabs, 
They  have  connection  with  goats,  sheep,  and  even 
with  mares.  * 

This  custom  seems  to  have  existed  at  all  periods  of 
their  history.  The  following  curious  extract  from  the 
Paris  Medical,  of  1883,  is  a  confirmation  of  the  above: 

"  In  the  tenth  century,  Jahya-ben-Ishaq,  physician  to 
the  Emir  El-nacer  Lidinillah,  being  consulted  by  a 
peasant  who  could  no  longer  support  the  pain  caused 
to  him  by  swelling  and  inflammation  of  the  penis, 
placed  the  member  on  a  stone  and  compressed  it  so 
as  to  cause  a  mass  of  pus  to  flow  out  of  it,  in  the 
midst  of  which  there  was  a  grain  of  barley.  The 
Arab  doctor  at  once  guessed  that  the  patient  had 
taken  liberties  with  his  mare  and  had  thus  introduced 
the  grain  into  the  urethral  canal  which  the  culprit 
was  obliged  fully  to  admit  was  true. 

Arab  Criminal  Assaults  and  Rape.  During  four 
years  time  we  only  noted  8 1  cases  of  rape  committed 
by  Arabs.     This  figure  is  evidently  far  inferior  to  the 

*  A  curious  and  lengthy  case  is  given  of  carnal  connection  with  a 
bear  in  the  "  Old  Man  young  again "  (MS.)  (now  in  preparation  for 
the  press). 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  295 

real  facts.  We  therefore  must  here  insist  upon  the 
large  number  of  cases  the  prosecution  of  which  was 
abandoned  for  lack  of  proof,  and  the  still  greater  num- 
ber of  those  which  remained  unknown  to  justice. 

The  study  of  this  crime  is  one  of  the  most  interesting 
that  Arab  criminality  presents  to  us.  This  question, — 
far  from  being  a  simple  one  as  in  France,  i.e.  relating 
solely  to  criminal  assaults  committed  on  women  or  on 
children, —  becomes  more  complex  when  we  pass  to 
the  Arabs,  and  presents  a  point  which  it  is  important 
to  put  clearly  in  the  light,  we  mean  violation  in 
T?iarriage,  fatal  consequences  of  the  Mussulman  and 
French  laws,  of  which  the  first  authorise  and  the  latter 
tolerate  the  most  dissimilar  unions.  It  is  on  account 
of  this  culpable  toleration  by  our  laws,  no  article  of 
which  comes  to  regulate  marriage  among  Mussulmans, 
so  that  there  are  frequent  cases  of  quite  young  children 
being  married  to  grown-up  men  and  dying  from  the 
effects  of  conjugal  approach. 

The  author  of  the  assault  is,  it  is  true,  prosecuted, 
and  generally  condemned.  Is  that  sufficient?  Evi- 
dently not.  We  have  even  already,  in  commencing 
this  stvidy,  made  it  clear  that  often  in  such  cases,  the 
Arab  is  to  be  held  irresponsible;  but  then  who  bears 
that  responsibility?  We  will  not  go  further  into  the 
study  of  these  questions,  which  pertain  to  the  domain 
of  humanitarian  philosophy  and  of  jurisprudence,  leaving 
to  the  ruling  powers  the  care  of  solving  them. 

We  may  note  at  once  that  simple  criminal  assaults 
are  rare  among  the  Arabs,  and  that  consequently  it 
is  only  his  bestiality  that  impels  the  Arab,  notwith- 
standing all  impediments,  to  accomplish  the  act  he  has 
begun. 


296  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

Criminal  Assaults.  The  following  by  Dr.  Rique,  * 
confirms  our  observations  anent  the  ferocity  of  the 
Arab's  lustful  attacks: — "This  series  of  offences  seldom 
come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  French  authorities. 
For  this  there  are  two  reasons:  the  rarity  of  these 
crimes  and  the  difficulty  of  discovering  them. 

The  rarity  of  such  offences  among  the  tribes  should 
not  lead  us  to  conclude  in  favour  of  the  continence  of 
the  Arabs.  Nothing  can  give  any  idea  of  the  immor- 
ality reigning  in  the  douars.  The  Arab  woman  is 
sequestrated  as  among  the  Turks  and  the  Moors 
She  goes  about  with  face  uncovered,  works  in  the 
fields  tilling  the  soil,  goes  into  the  woods  to  pick 
up  sticks,  poor  beast  of  burden  that  she  is,  looked 
upon  by  lord  and  master  as  something  intermediate 
between  his  horse  and  his  donkey,  having  received 
neither  principles  nor  education,  not  esteeming  herself 
more  than  she  is  esteemed,  what  scruple  therefore 
could  restrain  her?  Consequently  it  appears  perfectly 
proved  to  us  that  there  is  not  a  single  one  who  has  not 
got  at  least  one  lover,  whom  she  calls  in  her  cynically 
naive  language  her  Khouiah  or  brother.  This  much 
established,  and  as  pretty  nearly  every  Arab  has 
either  a  mistress  or  a  legitimate  spouse,  and  his  gen- 
esic  instinct,  which  to  him  is  above  everything  else, 
being  thereby  satisfied,  very  few  of  them  would  care  to 
expose  themselves,  for  the  sake  of  change,  to  a  ter- 
rible and  above  all  legitimate  punishment.  The  innate 
modesty  and  jealous  repugnance  of  the  Arab  in  all 
questions  having  reference  to  women,  have  passed 
into  the  language.  In  order  to  express  the  idea  of 
violation,  they  employ  a  euphemistic  form  of  expression 

«  Etude  sur  Med.  legale  in  the  Gazette  Me'dicale  de  Paris,  vol.  63 
(pages   J 56— 161). 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  297 

sufficiently  distant   from    its   real   signification:    serrac 
en  nfa,  rob  women. 

It  is  particularly  in  cases  of  criminal  assault  that 
one  must  be  on  one's  guard  against  every  sort  of 
evidence  and  trust  only  to  one's  eyes.  I  remember  a 
case  of  this  kind  which  seems  to  me  to  be  interesting 
enough  to  be  recorded. 

A  Caid,  considered  to  be  one  of  the  most  loyal 
and  honourable  in  the  country,  one  day  came  to  me 
at  the  Arab  Bureau,  bringing  with  him  a  young  girl 
of  from  7  to  8  years  old,  the  daughter  of  one  of  his 
servants.  I  was  told  by  the  Caid  that  she  had  been 
ravished  by  a  shepherd  whom  he  had  caused  to  be 
arrested  by  his  mounted  guard.  I  examined  the  young 
girl,  and  could  discover  no  trace  whatever  of  violence, 
no  oedema  or  ecchymosis.  And  yet  the  hymen  mem- 
brane had  been  broken  through,  and  defloration  had 
taken  place,  but  as  it  appeared  to  me,  not  very  re- 
cently. I  next  proceeded  to  examine  the  accused.  This 
man.  El  Ambli  ben  bel  Kassem,  although  only  fifteen 
years  old,  presented  an  excessive  development  of  the 
genital  organs,  even  for  an  Arab,  and  quite  out  of 
proportion  with  the  size  of  the  girl's  pudenda.  I  was 
much  perplexed,  and  I  was  about  to  draw  up  a  report 
with  negative  conclusions,  when,  with  a  view  to 
further  information,  I  wished  once  more  to  carefully 
examine  the  girl.  I  then  discovered  at  the  fork,  a 
little  to  the  right,  a  syphilitic  excoriation,  very  slight, 
it  is  true,  but  well  characterised,  which  had  escaped 
me  at  my  first  observation.  On  making  this  discovery 
a  certain  suspicion  passed  through  my  mind.  I  re- 
membered that  this  Caid  had  a  son,  a  good-for-nothing 
fellow,  a  frequenter  of  low  haunts,  and  even  suspected 
of  going    about   at   night   for  nefarious  purposes,  and 


298  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

that  a  few  days  previously  this  son  had  come  to  consult 
me  about  a  chancre  he  had  at  the  basis  of  the  bridle. 
I  at  once  sent  one  of  the  horsemen  of  the  Arab 
Bureau  to  fetch  him,  his  whereabouts  being  known, 
and  he  was  brought  without  being  told  what  for.  As 
soon  as  the  Caid's  son  had  entered  the  ante-chamber,  I 
suddenly  pushed  open  the  door  of  the  consulting-room, 
and  pointing  to  the  young  girl:  "There,"  said  I,  "is 
she  whom  thou  hast  contaminated  (fuss'd) ! "  Taken  thus 
without  warning  and  confounded  by  this  sort  of  thea- 
trical effect,  he  did  not  dare  attempt  a  denial;  I  had 
guessed  rightly.  I  sent  him  to  the  disposal  of  the 
chief  of  the  Bureau,  who  had  him  arrested,  and  liberated 
El  Ambi.  As  for  the  Caid,  he  was  shortly  afterwards 
revoked. 

But  when  the  Arab  thinks  himself  sure  of  a  certain 
immunity,  his  brutal  instincts,  seconded  by  a  hot 
temperament  will  lead  to  excesses  of  frenetic  lechery. 

Two  Arabs  of  the  Djendel  tribe  met,  one  evening  at 
about  eight  o'clock  on  a  by-path  leading  from  Ain-as- 
Solthan  to  Milianah,  the  unfortunate  wife  of  a  colonist, 
who  was  obstinate  in  not  taking  the  high  road.  They 
seized  hold  of  her,  threatening  to  kill  her  if  she  resisted, 
laid  her  down  under  a  tree,  and  while  she  was  held  down 
by  one  of  the  two,  the  other  violated  her.  His  companion 
then  took  his  place,  and  so  they  continued  alternately 
relieving  each  other  during  two  hours.  The  unfor- 
tunate woman  calculated  that  she  had  been  outraged 
about  fifteen  times.  Subjected  the  next  day  to  medico- 
legal examination,  a  real  echymosis  of  the  vaginal 
tunic  was  perceptible,  and  the  mucous  surface  was  in 
some  places  lifted  up  and  eroded. 

With  regard  to  criminal  attempts  on  those  of  the 
same   sex,   they  are  far  from  being  rare ;  but  facts  of 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  299 

this  nature  being  seldom  revealed,  naturally  escape 
verification.  Generally  there  is  mutual  consent:  the 
infamous  vice  is  so  deeply  rooted  amongst  the  Arabs, 
that  it  is  almost  hopeless  to  find  any  efficacious 
means  of  repression. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

My  stay  at  Martinique.  —  The  ivhite  race,  called  pure  Creoles. 
— Prejudice  against  colo7tr. —  The  Blacks  of  Martinique.— Moral 
characteristics  of  the  Negress  of  Martinique. —  The  coloured  race. 
—  The  Mulatta. —  The  Quadroon  and  her  passionate  nature. — 
"  Fricatrices  "  and  Lesbians. 

My  Stay  at  Martinique.  I  have  already  explained 
the  reasons  which  detained  me  three  weeks  at  Martin- 
ique, before  going  to  Guiana,  where  I  was  able  to 
remain  nearly  three  years.  On  the  return  journey  to 
France,  I  again  stayed  a  fortnight  at  Martinique. 

I  have  no  intention  of  writing  a  long  description, 
analogous  to  that  I  have  done  for  Guiana,  of  the  white, 
black,  and  coloured  races  of  Martinique.  I  should 
only  have  to  repeat  myself,  and  uselessly  lengthen  out 
the  book.  I  will  content  myself  therefore,  with  briefly 
noticing  some  of  the  differences  between  the  people 
of  the  two  countries.  I  shall  treat  Martinique  as  I 
have  already  treated  Tonquin. 

The   White    Race,    called    Pure    Creoles.     The 

first  fact  which  strikes  one,  is  the  very  large  number 
of  white  Creoles,  who  can  here  form  a  stock  part  of 
the  population  without  the  support  of  black  blood. 
This  is  due  to  the  chains  of  high  mountains  at  Mar- 
tinique,   where   we   find,   at   altitudes  of  fi'om  2700  to 

300 


UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF  ANTHROPOLOGY.  301 

3300  feet  above  the  sea,  a  really  temperate  climate, 
which  is  almost  cold  in  the  winter,  and  where  the  white 
Creoles  have  built  sanatoria,  for  cases  of  fever,  anaemia, 
hepatitis,  etc.  When  the  affairs  of  the  island  were 
very  prosperous,  all  the  rich  Creoles  had  country  houses 
on  these  heights,  where  they  passed  the  hot  season, 
and  recovered  their  strength.  The  white  race  was 
thus  able  to  contend  against  the  climate, — which,  by 
the  way,  is  never  so  injurious  as  that  of  Guiana, 

Prejudice  against  Colour.  It  is  not  astonishing 
that  we  should  find  here, — at  least  it  was  so  in  187  — 
a  prejudice  against  colour  which  does  not  exist  at 
Guiana.  The  real  white  Creoles  constitute  a  kind  of 
Faubourg  St.  Germain, '  from  which  the  coloured  ele- 
ment is  rigorously  excluded.  The  latter  has  become, 
owing  to  the  franchise,  which  gives  every  Black  a 
vote,  the  dominant  poHtical  power,  but  the  old  Creole 
society  still  looks  upon  him  with  disdain,  and  refuses 
to  open  its  salons  to  him.  The  white  Creole  has  as 
much  contempt  for  the  "  mixed  bloods",  as  a  nobleman 
of  the  old  school  had  for  his  valet,  but  the  latter  could 
not  brag,  as  the  former  can,  that  his  ancestors  bought 
and  sold  on  the  market,  the  grandparents  of  the  coloured 
people. 

The  Black  Race  at  Martinique.  The  Negro  and 
Negress  of  Martinique  are  taller,  more  lithesome,  and 
slenderer,  than  their  congeners  of  Guiana.  I  remarked 
this  during  my  first  visit,  and  an  old  white  Creole  of 
Cayenne  gave  me  the  explanation  of  it.  It  appears 
that,  when  the  slave  trade  existed,  the  slaving  vessels 

'  The  home  of  the  old  French  nobility  in  Paris,  exclusively  closed 
to  the  parvenu  and  rastaqojiere  class,  which  generally  goes  West. 


302  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

first  brought  their  human  merchandise  to  the  Antilles, 
where,  naturally,  those  with  the  best  physical  qualities 
were  picked  out,  and  the  remainder  then  taken  on  to 
Guiana.  If  this  is  correct — and  I  see  no  reason  to 
doubt  it, — the  explanation  of  the  corporal  inferiority 
of  the  Guiana  Black,  is  very  easy.  It  should  be  added, 
that  the  climate  of  Guiana  is  also  more  weakening. 
The  Black  of  Martinique  is  more  robust,  and  wider  in 
the  shoulders,  but  he  has  a  restless,  uneasy  look  in 
his  face.  And  while  the  Guyanais  is  peaceable,  sub- 
missive, quiet,  and  avoids  quarrels,  the  Martiniquer, 
though  quite  as  lazy  when  manual  labour  is  concerned, 
is  noisy,  insolent,  and  overbearing.  In  the  street  he 
will  never  give  up  the  pavement  to  you,  unless  he 
knows  you,  and  has  need  of  your  services.  Scuffles 
between  the  soldiers  and  the  Blacks,  which  are  very 
rare  at  Guiana,  are,  on  the  contrary,  very  common  at 
Martinique,  and  blood  is  often  shed.  I  do  not  believe 
that,  within  the  memory  of  man,  a  Black  of  Cayenne 
has  ever  deliberately  set  fire  to  a  house.  The  torch, 
on  the  contrary,  is  the  favourite  weapon  of  the  Mar- 
tinique Black ;  it  is  to  him  what  the  marmite  of  dyna- 
mite is  to  the  anarchist.  During  the  war  of  1870-71, 
there  were  several  insurrections,  and  incendiary  fires, 
at  Martinique,  and  the  incendiary  Blacks  cried  "  Long 
live  Prussia".  The  terrible  fire,  which  quite  recently 
destroyed  Fort  de  France,  is  believed  to  have  been 
the  work  of  an  incendiary. 

Moral  Characteristic  of  the  Woman  of  Marti- 
nique. The  character  of  the  Negress  of  Martinique  is 
similar  to  that  of  the  male.  She  is  more  lively,  and 
more  laborious,  than  the  woman  of  Guiana,  who  is  a 
weak,   stupid  gnan-gnan,  a  good  mother  of  a  family, 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  303 

but  not  very  wide-awake.  The  Martinique  woman  has 
a  great  aptitude  for  business,  and  makes  money  in 
every  way.  She  works  like  a  man.  which  the  woman 
of  Guiana  will  not  do.  The  coal  for  the  great  Trans- 
atlantic steamers  is  loaded  by  hundreds  of  women,  who, 
singing  at  the  top  of  their  voices  to  the  sound  of  a 
wild  tam-tam,  come  and  empty  their  baskets  into  the 
hold  of  the  vessel. 

The  woman  of  Martinique  has  not  the  strong  and 
simple  religious  faith  of  the  Guyanaise.  Martinique  is 
so  much  visited,  that  its  black  population  has  not  been 
able  to  withstand  the  contaminating  influence  of  a  not 
very  devout  civiHzation.  The  woman  of  Martinique 
is,  moreover,  a  dangerous  character,  and  you  had  better 
look  out  for  yourself  if  you  happen  to  have  offended 
a  Negress. 

In  fact,  on  the  whole,  she  is  not  a  very  nice  kind 
of  woman.  She  does  not  like  the  Whites ;  but  the 
Blacks  detest  all  the  White  race,  and  would  turn 
them  out  of  the  island  if  they  had  the  power. 

So  far  as  concerns  physical  passions,  their  forms 
and  their  perversions  amongst  the  black  race,  I  have 
nothing  to  add  to  what  I  have  written  about  Guiana. 
I  may  mention,  however,  that  if  the  "  Massogan  "  goes 
after  the  Negress  at  Cayenne,  at  Martinique  the  BecquS 
blanc  can  find  plenty  of  coloured  women,  and  can 
afford  to  leave  the  Negjess   on  one  side. 

The  Coloured  Race.  This  race  has  greatly  increased, 
during  the  last  half  century,  and  has  become  so  strong 
that  it  is  able  to  contend  against  the  old  Creole  race, 
and  has  wrested  from  the  latter  the  predominance  in 
political  matters.  It  is  the  succession  of  fresh  strata, 
foretold  by  Gambetta.     The  rich  coloured  people  bring 


304  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

up  their  sons  as  notaries,  doctors,  lawyers,  and  jour- 
nalists, who  occupy  all  the  highest  political  situations 
in  the  country.  But  not  all  are  rich.  The  poorer 
members  of  the  race.  Quadroons  or  Mulattoes,  become 
clerks,  or  enter  some  Government  department.  Many 
of  them  go  and  try  their  fortune  elsewhere.  It  seems 
that,  for  some  years  past,  Guiana  has  been  invaded 
by  Martiniquers,  who  are  not  looked  on  very  favour- 
ably by  the  people  of  Guiana,  who  are  aware  that  the 
new-comers  have  long  teeth,  and  an  appetite  not 
easily  appeased. 

The  Mulatta.  As  to  the  poor  coloured  girl,  she 
sells  herself  for  money  without  any  scruple.  All  pro- 
portions being  duly  considered,  there  are  more  Mulat- 
tas,  and  many  more  Quadroons,  at  Martinique,  than 
at  Cayenne,  and  the  amateur  has  a  greater  choice.  I 
did  not  discover  any  very  remarkable  differences  between 
the  Mulattas  of  the  two  countries.  Both  are  very  fond 
of  the  White  man,  but  the  Martinique  girl  is  bolder, 
and  more  intriguing,  and  more  certain  to  assert  her 
sway  over  the  Becque  hlanc  who  may  fall  into  her 
hands.  She  is  unscrupulous,  and  will  procure  elsewhere 
the  presents  which  her  lover  may  refuse  to  give  her. 
She  is  also  more  lascivious  than  the  girl  of  Guiana. 

The    Quadroon,    and   her   Passionate   Nature. 

The  Quadroon  of  Martinique  can  certainly  give  odds 
to  any  of  the  courtesans  of  Europe,  and  it  is  only  at 
Tahiti  that  I  have  found  her  equal.  It  must  be  con- 
fessed, that  the  mixture  of  one  fourth  of  black  blood 
produces  an  almost  perfect  woman.  The  general  form 
of  the  body  is  that  of  a  woman  of  the  South  of  Europe. 
The   skin    is  a  dull  brown,  and  the  face  is  lighted  up 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  305 

by  a  pair  of  magnificent  gazelle-like  eyes.  The  legs 
are  well-made,  and  the  thighs  and  buttocks  lasciviously 
well-rounded.  The  hair  is  perhaps  still  rather  curly, 
but  often  of  a  dark  chestnut,  or  red  gold  colour.  The 
lips  are  large.  The  breast  still  remains  a  trifle  pear- 
shaped.  The  hair  of  the  pubes  is  curly,  and  rather 
soft,  sometimes  very  plentiful,  and  often  of  a  tint  not 
so  dark  as  that  of  the  head.  But  the  dimensions  of 
the  vulva  and  vagina  are  not  at  all  like  those  of  the 
Negress,  and  do  not  sensibly  differ  from  those  of  the 
European  woman. 

The  passions  of  the  Quadroon  girl  are  strong,  like 
those  of  her  white  ancestors.  She  has  not  the  same 
dislikes  as  the  Negress,  and  is  less  particular  than  the 
Mulatta, — in  fact  she  is  ready  for  any  sort  of  pleasure 
that  comes  in  her  way.  She  is  a  real  Circe,  and  will 
lend  herself  willingly  to  all  your  amorous  fancies, 
however  lewd  they  may  be.  If  a  Quadroon  girl  of 
Martinique  has  a  hon  Becque  for  a  lover,  and  she  likes 
him,  she  will  never  desert  him,  and  will  leave  her 
country  rather  than  lose  him.  The  people  of  Martinique 
are  naturally  fond  of  travelling,  whilst  those  of  Guiana 
are  of  sedentary  habits. 

It  is  asserted  that  Fricatrices  and  Lesbians  '  are  not 

«  In  Bali,  according  to  Jacobs  (>),  homosexuality  is  almost  as  common 
among  women  as  among  men,  though  it  is  more  secretly  exercised ;  the 
methods  of  gratification  adopted  are  either  digital  or  lingual,  or  else  by 
bringing  the  parts  together  (tribadism). 

Among  Arab  women,  according  to  Kocher,  homosexual  practices  are 
rare,  though  very  common  among  Arab  men.  In  Egypt,  according  to 
Godard,  Kocher  and  others,  it  is  almost  fashionable,  and  every  woman 
in  the  harem  has  a  "  friend".  Among  the  negroes  and  mulattoes  of 
French  creole  countries,  says  Corre,  homosexuality  is  very  common.  "  I 
know    a    lady   of  great   beauty,"    he  remarks,   "a  stranger  in  Guadalupe 


(>)  As  quoted  by  Ploss-Bartels,  Das    Heib,   1895,  (^o'-  I'  P-  39°)- 


306  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF 

uncommon  amongst  the  coloured  women  of  Martinique, 
but,  though  I  met  with  some  women  who  were  reported 
to  possess  this  taste,  I  should  be  sorry  to  deduce 
therefrom  that  the  general  habit  prevailed.  "  In  case 
of  doubt,  abstain  from  an  opinion,"  as  the  proverb 
says. 

Depilation.  The  best  known  and  most  extensively 
distributed  custom  connected  with  the  MONS  VENERIS, 
is  certainly  depilation,  by  which  is  to  be  understood  the 
artificial  removal  of  a  growth  of  hair.  Among  the 
Muhammadans  this  operation  is  prescribed  by  their  ritual, 
but  we  meet  with  it  in  many  other  parts  of  the  globe, 
in  Africa,  Asia  and  America. 

The  substance  mostly  employed  for  that  purpose  in 
Turkey  is  known  to  be  Orpiment  (yellow  sulphide  of 
Arsenic)  and  calcined  chalk,  equal  quantities  of  which 
are  worked  up  into  a  paste  with  rose-water :  after  this 
paste  has  been  applied  and  left  for  a  few  minutes  on 
the  spot  in  question  and  then  carefully  washed  off,  the 
hair  is  found  to  be  completely  removed.  This  method 
is  in  quite  general  use  throughout  the  East  and  is 
called  in  Turkey  Rusma  and  according  to  Polak,  ^ 
Nurch  in  Persia,  for  in  Persia  also  the  Muhammadan 
women  are  obliged  to  regularly  depilate  the  private 
parts  and  the  arm-pits  in  a  warm  bath.     The  Muham- 

and  the  mother  of  a  family,  who  is  obliged  to  stay  away  from  the 
markets  and  certain  shops  because  of  the  excessive  admiration  of  the 
mulatto  women  and  negresses,  and  the  impudent  invitations  they  dared 
to  address  to  her".  (*)  He  refers  to  several  cases  of  more  or  less 
violent  sexual  attempts  by  women  on  young  girls  of  I2  or  14,  and 
observes  that  such  attempts  by  men  on  children  of  their  own  sex  are 
much  rarer. 

'   Polak  — Versien,  das  Land  und  seine  Bewohner.  I,  Leipzig,   1865. 

(')  Corre,   Crime  en  Pays   Creoles,  (Paris,    1889). 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  307 

madan  meiidens  and  the  Christian  Armenian  women  in 
Persia  do  not  do  this,  as  it  was  asserted  in  Hdntsche.  ^ 
Polak  says :  "  The  private  parts  are  depilated  in 
obedience  to  ritual  law  by  means  of  a  preparation  of 
orpiment  and  chalk ;  this  is  called  hadschehi  keschidrx, 
which  means  submitting  to  the  law :  but  elegant  ladies 
themselves  pluck  out  the  hairs,  until  they  no  longer 
grow  any  more.' 

Petrns  Bellonius  relates,  that  the  quantity-  of  orpi- 
ment used  in  the  East  is  so  enormous  on  account  of 
its  use  in  depilation.  that  the  farmers  of  the  metal  tax  pay 
to  the  Sultan  of  Turkey  a  yearly  tribute  of  1800  ducats. 

On  the  Coast  of  Guinea  according  to  Mcnirad,  *  the 
young  and  unmarried  negresses  also  depilate  the  private 
parts,  but  after  marriage  they  let  the  hair  grow  aguin. 

In  the  Dutch  East  Indies,  as  Epp  ^  asserts,  the 
women  of  Malay  race  depilate  their  mons  veneris 
until  it  appears  qmte  bald.  This  is  confirmed  bv  one 
of  the  photographs  in  the  collection  of  the  Berlin 
Anthropological  Society*,  but  the  others  in  the  same 
collection  prove  that  this  cannot  be  considered  as  a 
general  custom,  and  also  that  the  Chinese  women 
li\-ing  there  have  not  adopted  it-  But  among  the 
Battas  of  Sumatra,  according  to  Hagen  *  the  women 
pluck  out  the  hairs  from  the  mons  veneris  and  shave 
it,  as  soon  as  the  hair  begins  to  grow. 

Maurel  *  says,  speaking  of  the  Khmers  in  Cambodia, 

»  Hdntsche,  Phj-sikalisch-Medidnische  Skizze  von  Rescht  in  Porsien; 
in  Vircbow's  Arduv.   1862,  5  n.  6,  Heft  S.  570. 

*  iionrad^  H.  C.  G«malde  der  Koste  von  Guinea.  Weimar,  1824,  p.  47. 

*  Epp,  Schildenmgen  von  Holfindiscfa-Indien.  Heiddberg,  1852.  p.  392. 
*'  Hagen,  Die  kunsdichen  venmstaltoi^en  des  Koqiers  bei  den  Balta. 

Zeitsch.  nir  Ethncdogie.     Bd.  X^^.  218,  Berlin,   1884. 

*  Maurel,  Memoire  sor  KAnthropcdogie  da  Cambodge;  memoires  de 
U  See.  d'Anthrop.  de  Paris.     Paris,  1893.  p.  529. 


308  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS  OF 

that  the  woman's  mons  veneris  is  generally  shaved ;  but 
"  the  women  who  seek  the  company  of  Europeans 
easily  abandon  the  practice." 

In  several  parts  of  India  this  custom  also  prevails 
generally ;  only  for  that  purpose  they  employ,  scs,/agor  ' 
informs  us,  very  peculiar  rings  of  which  the  Royal 
Ethnological  Museum  in  Berlin  possesses  a  few  examples 
contributed  by  known  travellers.  They  are  used  solely 
for  that  purpose  and,  when  they  are  required  to  operate, 
they  are  carried  on  the  tumb.  At  first  sight  they 
have  the  appearance  of  a  very  large  signet-ring,  as 
on  the  upper  side  they  present  to  view  a  large  round 
flat  shield,  which  bears  in  the  centre,  surrounded  by 
tastefully  carved  borders,  a  little  mirror,  destined  in 
reality  firstly  in  the  manipulation  to  reflect  the  private 
parts  and  secondly  to  throw  light  by  reflection  on  to 
these  rather  hidden  regions.  It  is  with  the  rather  sharp 
edge  of  the  ring  that  the  hairs  are  removed.  The 
Indian  name  of  these  rings  is  drsi. 

The  well-known  Nestor  of  the  German  savants  in 
South  America,  Rudolph  A.  Phillipiva  Santiago,  made 
some  enquiries  concerning  the  Chilian  women  who, 
he  discovered  were  given  to  depilation,  but  not  at  all 
generally,  and  only  among  certain  very  low  classes 
of  the  population. 

Karl  von  den  Steinen  ^  found  in  Brazil  that  among 
the  Indian  women  in  the  district  near  the  sources  of 
the  Schingu,  of  the  Trumai  and  other  tribes,  it  was  a 
general  custom  to  remove  the  hair  entirely  from  the 
■mons  veneris. 

'  yajfo^,  See  Verhandl.  der  Berliner  Anthropologische  Gesellschaft, 
1882,  and  Zeitschrift  fur  Ethnologie,    1880. 

*  Karl  von  den  Steinen,  Die  Philosophic  der  Tracht,  und  Enstehuiig 
des  Schamgefiihls.     Ausland   1891,  No.   i6. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  309 

Hyades  and  Deniker  ^  mention  also  a  woman  of  Terra 
del  Fuego  who  had  submitted  herself  to  depilation. 

In  the  East,  depilation  is  not  an  invention  of  the 
Muhammadans;  their  forefathers  practised  it,  and  in  far 
ancient  times  this  popular  custom  travelled  from  Asia 
into  Egypt,  and  from  there  to  Greece  and  Italy. 
According  to  Aristophanes  the  hetaires  and  gay  women 
particularly  of  his  time,  alone  practised  it  in  Greece; 
but  it  would  appear  on  the  same  authority  that  the 
honourable  Greek  women  had  also  adopted  the  custom. 
Martial  ^  relates  that  the  Roman  women  resorted  to 
depilation  of  the  private  parts  as  they  grew  older,  in 
order  to  dissimulate  their  age.  Many  authors  assert 
that  the  custom  was  still  prevalent  in  Italy  until 
modern  times;  and  it  would  appear  to  be  as  much 
for  sake  of  cleanliness  as  for  protection  against  vermin 
(Rosenbaum).  ^ 

It  would  seem  altogether  that  in  general  those 
peoples  like  to  practise  depilation  whose  pilose  system 
is  the  least  developed,  as  those  also  are  most  addicted 
to  shaving  who  have  the  scantiest  beards.  The  ap- 
parent exceptions  are  no  doubt  due  to  this  depilation 
of  female  private  parts  being  elevated  to  the  rank  of 
a  religious  rite,  and  forcedly  therefore  adopted  by  all 
the  nations  converted  to  Islamism. 

'  Hyades  b'  Deniker,  Mission  scientifique  du  Cap  Horn  (1882, 
1883)  vol.  Vin,  Paris,    1891. 

"  Martial.  Lib,  XH,  epigr.   32. 

*  Rosenbattm,  Geschichte  der  Lustseiichc,  etc.  Halle,    1882,  p.  372. 

(This  latter  work,  we  hope,  shortly  to  offer  to  English  readers  in 
their  own  language.  It  is  a  mine  of  anthropological  knowledge  as 
regards  the  Ancients.) 

THE   END   OF   THE   FIRST    VOLUME. 


YOL.    II 

UNTRODDEN  FIELDS 


OF 


ANTHK0P0L06Y 


"  No  physical  or  moral  misery,  no  sore  however  corrupt  it 
may  be,  should  frighten  him  who  has  devoted  himself  to  the 
Knowledge  of  Man;  and  the  sacred  Ministry  of  the  Medical  Man  by 
forcing  him  to  witness  everything,  also  permits  him  to  say  every- 
thing." 

Tardieu,  iJes  Attentats  aux  Moeurs. 


Th  yxp  xTTorryjvxi  xx'keTth 
(pv7£0i;,  '/iv  l%f/  rig  xei. 

Aristophanes  (Vesp.  1457): — 


"The  decomposition  of  dead  bodies  we  can  well  prevent,  can 
we  not  also  stay  the  decomposition  of  the  human  heart?  If  the 
weak  know,  if  we  know,  that  a  given  vice  has  a  bad  taste,  and 
'turns  but  to  dead  ashes  in  the  Mouth',  with  what  happiness  should 
we  fly  from  It.  It  is  only  necessary  to  see  certain  phases  of 
degradation  such  as  they  really  are,  to  hold  them  afterwards  in 
hatred  " 

AofeLE  EsQuiROS,  Les  Marchandes  d' Amour. 


TLaes  uns,  flcliebter  JBruDcr,  nicbt  vcxQceecw, 

Da08  von  sicb  eclbst  Dec  /Bbcnscb  nicbt  ecbcibcn  hann. 

Goethe  (Torq.  Tasso,  I,  2,  85). 


Documents  on  Medical  Anthkopology 


i  ^iiii 


OF 


Y 


OBSERVATIONS    ON   THE    ESOTERIC 


MaoDers  and  Customs  of  Semi-Civilized  Peoples; 

BEING   A 

RECORD  OF  THIRTY  YEARS'  EXPERIENCE  IN 

ASIA,   AFRICA,   AMERICA 
and   OCEANIA. 

By  a  French  Army-Surgeon. 

{IN  TWO  VOLUMES) 
Vol.  II 


Privately  Re-issued 

AMERICAN  ANTHROPOLOGICAL  SOCIETY 

New  York 


PREFATORY  NOTE 

TO   THE   SECOND   VOLUME 


"Dont  ne  ma  retards  I'opinion  de  ceux  qui  disent  que  c'est 
une  chose  vergogneuse  at  sale  de  traicter  de  cette  matiSre,  et  que 
la  lecture  d'un  tel  livre  peut  induire  quelque  libidineux  d^sir  en  la 
pens^e  de  ceux  qui  le  liront.  Mais  nul  ne  le  lise  qui  n'en  aura 
a  faire.  Nous  desirons  empescher  le  mal;  si,  ce  faisant,  nous  ne 
pouvons  fuir  le  scandale  volontairement  pris,  cela  ne  nous  doit  pas 
etre  impute,  ains  a  la  pernicieuse  volonte  de  ceux  qui  d'eux-memes 
cherchent  a  se  scandaliser  sans  sujet." 

Dr.  JAQUES  DUVAL. 

Traite   des   Hermaphrodites. 
(RocEN,  1612,  p.  58.) 


a 


Scire  est  nesclre,  nisi  16  me  scire  alius  sciret.'* 


PEEFATORY  NOTE 

TO   THE    SECOND   VOLUME. 


The  following  letter,  received  from  a  valued  correspondent, 
is  so  just,  and  defines  our  Author's  effort  with  such 
precision,  that  we  think  it  of  sufficient  interest  to  reproduce. 
Others  were  sent  to  us,  many  of  them  couched  in  very 
appreciative  and  laudatory  terms.  We  hope  to  include 
them  all  in  a  third  supplementary  volume  to  appear  later. 

Sir, 

In  reply  to  your  request  to  contribute  any  criticisms 
one  wishes  upon  "  Untrodden  Fields  of  Anthropology  " 
by  "  A  French  Army-Surgeon  "  (published  1896),  although 
I  have  not  resided  abroad,  nor  can  claim  any  special 
knowledge  of  the  subject,  as  a  medical  man,  and  having 
read  the  work  very  carefully,  I  should  like  to  make  the 
following  general  remarks.  The  title  at  once  arrests  the 
scientific  attention  and  the  book  leads  one  straight  into 
fields  "  untrodden  "  as  far  as  I  am  aware — at  all  events 
little  more  than  a  note  here  and  there  appears — in  the 
standard  anatomical,  physiological,  or  anthropological 
works ;  in  its  purely  psychological  aspects  I  believe  it  is 
wholly  untreated.  The  author's  numerous  observations 
on  the  various  races  and  species  of  mankind,  with  which 
his     position    brought    him    into    contact;    the    careful 


VIII  PUEFATORY   NOTE. 

differentiations  he  details  in  the  several  species  and  races, 
and  the  rough  classification  he  sketches  therefrom,  are 
very  interesting;  while  his  description  of  relevant  and 
characteristic  customs,  of  the  different  races,  and  the 
incidents  of  travel  in  passing  from  place  to  place  are 
equally  attractive.  The  scientific  aspects  of  the  work  are 
very  interesting,  but  the  details  of  the  examples,  brief, 
and  in  general  scientific  terms.  From  the  purely  scientific 
side  it  would  be  probably  too  much  to  look  for  the 
scientific  minutiae  of  Darwin,  or  numerous  and  exact 
measurements,  under  the  circumstances  of  the  compilation 
of  the  work  and  the  newness  of  the  subject  as  a  speciality. 
Lastly  I  think  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  as  a  work  treating 
of  a  scientific  subject,  and  further  as  being  a  speciality, 
it  is  not  announced  to  and  procurable  by  the  scientific 
world  through  the  ordinary  channels.  Apologising  for 
these  brief  criticisms  and  congratulating  the  author  on 
what  he  has  achieved. 

Yours  faithfully, 

"MEDICUS." 

England. 

Our  friend's  name  is  withheld,  as  desired. 


CONTENTS 


OF    THE 


SECOND     VOLUME 


SECOiyD  ENLARGED  AND  REVISED  EDITION 


ANALYTICAL 
TABLE    OF    CONTENTS 


PART  THE  THIRD 


Prefatory  Note  to  the  Second  Volume vii 

Table  of  Contents xi-xvm 

AFRICA 
Senegal  and  the  South  Rivers 

Chapter  L 

Sent  to  Senegal.  — Arrival  at  Saint  Louis.— General  impression 
of  the  Senegal  coast.— A  few  words  about  the  town  of  Saint 
Louis.  — The  Black  Town.— Anthropological  characteristics  of 
the  Wolof  race.— The  beauty  of  the  young  Negress.— Operation 
performed  on  the  breasts  of  women  lying-in.— The  genital 
organs  of  Negroes.— Kapes  and  other  offences  against  modesty 
amongst  Creoles  and  Negroes.  [Page  1 

Chapteb  IL 

Various  races  besides  the  Wolofs. — Mussulmans  and  Fetishists. 
The  Toucouleur.— The  Peulh.— The  Sarrakholais.  — The  civilisa- 
tion  of  the   White   man  has  no  effect  on  the  character  of  the 
Black.  — The  Kassonke.  — The  young  Kassonke  girl.-  The  Malinkes 
and  Bambaras.  — The  Senegalese  sharpshooter.  [Page    19 

XI 


XII  CONTENTS 

Chapter  III. 

Social  condition,  and  moral  characteristics  of  the  Negro  race  in 
general.— The  Chiefs  and  Marabouts.— Free  men,  griots,  and 
blacksmitlis.  —  The  Griot  village  of  Krina. — Slaves.— The  slavery 
question. — Moral  characteristics  of  the  Black. — The  Black's  opinion 
of  the  civilised  Toubab.— Karamoko's  carbine.— Various  customs 
and  superstitions  common  to  the  people  of  Senegal. —Mussulman 
amulets  and  the  fetish  man's  "grigris".  [Page    31 

Chapter  IV. 

The  Negro  woman.— Her  social  condition.— Marriage.— The 
wife  purchased  by  the  husband.  — Vanity  of  the  women  who  fetch 
high  prices.— Marriage  ceremonies.  — Constancy  of  the  Negress. 
— The  wives  of  the  Sharpshooters.— Their  inconstancy.— Their 
virtues. — Polygamy  amongst  the  Blacks.  — The  chief  mistress  of 
the  house.— Jealousy  unknown  to  the  Negress.— Divorce. 

[Page   41 

Chapter  V. 

The  hymen.— Large  and  small  lips.— Clitoris. —The  fork  and 
the  navel.  -  A  study  of  the  genital  organs  of  the  Negro  races  of 
Africa.— Marks  of  virginity  in  the  young  girl.  — Circumcision  of 
young  girls. — The  festival  of  same.- The  nubile  Negress.— 
The  genital  organ  of  the  Negro. — The  perforated  Kabylc 
woman.— Circumcision  the  probable  cause  of  the  size  of  the 
Negro's  penis. — The  effect  of  circumcision  on  the  size  of  the 
penis  of  the  pubescent  boy.  — Mantegazza  on  the  genital  organs 
of  the  Negroes.  — His  opinion  on  circumcision. — The  incontestable 
advantages  of  this  operation.  — The  suppression  of  masturbation 
in  the  circumcised.  — The  festival  of  circumcision  amongst  Fetish 
worshippers. —Excursus  by  Dr.  Godard  on  the  defloration  of 
virgins  in  Egypt.— Sir  R.  F.  Burton  on  Dahomeyan  customs.— 
Female  infanticide.— Thibetan  nuptial  customs.— The  Hottentot 
"  Apron  ". — The  perforation  of  the  penis  amongst  Australian 
tribes.  [Page    57 


CONTENTS  XIII 

Chapter  VI. 
Erotic  dances  of  the  Senegal  Negroes. — The  "  Anamalis  fobil " 
and  the  "  bamboula  "  of  the  Wolofs.— The  "belly  dance"  of  the 
Landoumans  of  Kio  Nunez.  —  Obscene  dance  of  the  massacre  of 
the  wounded,  and  mutilation  of  the  dead,  on  the  field  of  battle. — 
The  Gourou  or  Kola  nut,  the  aphrodisiac  of  the  Negroes. 

[Page      99 


Chapter  VII. 

The  unimportance  of  the  signs  of  virginity  in  the  Negress. — 
Negro  girls  deflowered  by  Toubabs.— Amorous  subterfuges  used 
in  Europe.  — Artifices  used  by  Asiatic  peoples. — Former  American 
customs.  — Report  of  Carletti,  the  Traveller.— Savage  habits 
regarding  perfumes. —  Tumefaction  of  the  gland.  — Influence  of 
chastity  on  health. —Elements  of  social  science.— Dr.  Verga 
on  celibacy.  [Page    107 


Chapter  VIII. 

Perversions  of  the  sexual  passion  amongst  the  Negroes.— The 
Negress  is  neither  a  Sodomite  nor  a  Lesbian.— Parent-Duchatelet 
on  "Lesbian  Love". — Tribads  despised  by  other  prostitutes.— 
How  the  vice  is  contracted.— The  strange  affection  of  Tribads.— 
Lawful  love  thought  shocking. —  Pregnancy  frequent  among 
them.— ^Masturbation  and  pederasty  very  rare  amongst  the 
Negroes.—  A  White  Messalina.— A  White  woman  violated 

by    a   Negro.  — Taylor   on   raping  adult    women.— Evidence    of 
signs  of  violence.— Trick  of  a  Negro  to  get  a  White  woman.— 
A  little  White  girl  deflowered  by  a  Negro,  [Page    12S 


Chapter  IX. 

Differences  between   the   organs  of  generation  of  the  various 
races  of  Senegal.  [Page    157 


XIV  CONTENTS 


PART   THE   FOURTH 


OCEANIA 
New  Caledonia— The  New  Hebrides— Tahiti 

Chapter  L 

My  stay  in  New  Caledonia. — Anthropological  characteristics 
of  the  Kanaka  of  New  Caledonia. — The  Kanaka  "  Popinee".— 
Degraded  condition  of  the  Popinee.— The  genital  organs  of  the 
Kanaka  race.— Circumcision  at  the  age  of  puberty.  — Seclusion 
of  girls  at  puberty.  — "  Hunting  the  Snake  ".—Beating  as  a 
means  of  purification.— Woman  during  the  menstrual  period. — 
The  Kanaka  virgin.— Division  of  the  Kanaka  race  into  independent 
and  hostile  tribes. — The  man's  "  manou".  — Strange  modesty  of 
the  Kanaka. —The  girdle  of  the  Popinee.  — A  few  words  about 
manners  and  customs.— The  position  of  the  Chief  in  the  social 
state. — Habitations.— Food.— The  Kanaka  stove. — Beliefs  and 
superstitions.— The  wizard-doctor  (Takata).  —Prof.  Frazer  on 
-Killing  the  God'.  [Page    1S9 

Chapter  II, 

Moral  characteristics  of  the  Kanaka.  —  Causes  of  the  insurrection 
of  1878.— The  Kanaka's  courage.— His  weapons.— The  attack  on 
the  post  at  Foa.— Heroic  death  of  sixteen  warriors. —Ferocity  of 
the  Kanaka.— The  philosophy  of  man-eating.— Devourers  of 
their  own  offspring.— Men  eaten  to  win  glory.  —  Anthropophagy 
a  motive  for  war. — Dogs  v.  women  at  Terra  del  Fuego.— 
Flagrante  delicto  of  animality.— Cannibalism.— Its  causes. — 
The  "pilou-pilou".— The  erotic  "pilou-pilou ".— Scenes_  of 
cannibalism.  -The  massacres  of  the  "  Alcmena  ",  and  la  Poya. — 
The  Chiefs  part  in  the  feast  of  human  flesh.— The  reward  of 
the  French  Government.  [Page    196 


CONTENTS  XV 

Chaptkr  III. 

Forms  of  sexual  intercourse  amongst  the  Kanakas.— The  Popine'e 
the  property  of  the  Chief.— The  Kanaka  marriage.— Polyandry.— 
The  condition  of  the  Popinee.  — The  Kanaka  "break  wood",  the 
usual  method  of  copulation.  — Accouchement.— Vulvar  deformities 
produced  by  the  repeated  coition  of  the  Kanaka  Popinees.  —  An 
original  form  of  punishment  for  adultery.— Not  confined  to  the 
Kanakas.  — Mrs.  Potiphar  and  Joseph.— Lust  of  the  Kanaka  for 
the  White  woman.— The  head  chief  Atai  and  Mme  F***. 

[Page    218 

Chapter  IV. 

Perversions  of  the  sexual  passions  amongst  the  Kanakas.— The 
perversions  of  the  Popinees.— Pederasty  after  the  age  of  puberty.— 
A  curious  theory  of  sexual  aberration.— The  symptomatic 
characteristics  of  the  pederasty  of  the  Kanaka. —  Cruelties  and 
erotic  mutilations  committed  by  the  Kanakas  during  the 
insurrection.— White  women  beheaded  and  violated.  — Bechir,  the 
Arab.  — Louis,  the  Kanaka  interpreter.  — Acts  of  Sadism. — The 
mutilation  and  outraging  of  corpses.  [Page    232 

CHAHXKlt    V. 

The  convict  in  New  Caledonia. — The  motives  for  this  chapter.— 
The  Penitentiary  of  Nou  Island.  — The  convict  as  a  family 
servant.  — The  ticket-of-leave  man.  — The  convent  of  Bourail.— 
Lesbians  and  "  fellatrices".-  Tribadism  in  Europe.— Tribads  are 
not  Sapphics.  — The  Courtesans  of  Greece.— Lombroso  on  the 
causes  of  this  vice.  — Natural  wantonness.— Environment  as  a 
factor.— Secret  clubs  of  vice. —Advanced  age,  another  cause.— 
Disgust  born  of  excess. —  Congenital  tendency. — The  criminality 
of  husbands.  .  The  military  post  at  Bourail.— The  General's  cap.— 
"Jo  m'emmerde,  and  I  want  a  man"  —Marriage  of  liberated 
convicts.  — Sodomy  and  pederasty  amongst  the  convicts.— Prisons 
as  breeder  of  vice.— The  universality  of  the  vice.— Infamous 
passions.  [Page    2S9 


XVI  CONTENTS 

Chapter  VI. 

A  note  by  the  Author.  — Anthropological  characteristics  of  the 
natives  of  the  New  Hebrides.  Their  admixture  with  the  Maori- 
Polynesian  race.-  Characteristics  of  the  pure  Melanesian  race.— 
It  is  autochthonous  in  Australia. — Anthropological  importance  of 
the  genital  organs  in  determining  the  origin  of  a  race. — The 
genital  organ  of  the  African  Negro,  and  of  his  various  crossings 
with  the  White.— The  genital  organ  of  the  Melanesian,  compared 
to  that  of  the  African  Negro. -The  genital  organ  of  the 
woman  of  the  New  Hebrides.  [Pagf*'    290 


Chapter  VII. 

A  few  words  on  the  manners,  customs,  etc.,  of  the  New  Hebri- 
deans.— Costume.— The  manou. —  The  woman's  girdle.— Tattoo- 
ing.—Habitations.— Food. — Arms  and  utensils. —The  tam-tam; 
the  pilou-pilou.— The  erotic  dance.— The  Kawa.  [Page    298 


Chapter  VIII. 

Forms  anii  perversions  of  the  sexual  habit  amongst  the  New 
Hebrideans.  —  Social  condition  of  woman.— Marriage. —Sacrifice 
of  widows  in  the  islands  of  Tanna  and  Anatom.  — Adultery 
and   its  punishment. — 

[Page    304 

Chapter  IX. 

Six  weeks  at  Tahiti. — Panoramic  view  of  Tahiti  at  sun-rise. — 
Anthropological  characteristics  of  the  Tahitian  Maori  race.— 
Beauty   of  the   Maori   race. — The  portrait  of  Rarahu. 

[Page    319 


CONTENTS  XVII 

Chapter  X. 

Manners  and  customs  of  the  Tahitians. — Social  condition  of  the 
ancient  Tahitians.-  The  Manahune.  — Religion  and  the  priests. — 
Origin  of  the  Tahitian  race.— The  language. —The  Tahitian  Aril 
is  an  Aryan  like  the  old  Greek.— The  priest's  part  in  Tahitian 
civilisation,— The  Marae.— Human  sacrifices.— The  end  of 
Tahitian  civilisation.  —Habitations.- Baths.  — Food.— Amuraa.— 
Public  festivals.— Costumes.  [Page    325 

Chapter  XI. 

Moral  characteristics  of  the  Tahitians.— Marriages.  — Woman's 
place  amongst  the  Maoris.— Births.— The  taboo.— Adopted 
children.  — Songs.— The  hymeneal  chant.  — The  upa-upa,  or 
lascivious  dance  of  the  Tahitian  women.— A  upa-upa  in  the 
interior  of  the  island.— Diseases.— Eapid  extinction  of  the  pure 
Maori  race.  [Page    336 

Chapter  XII. 

Importance  of  sexual  intercourse  to  the  Maoris.— Love  the  prin- 
cipal occupation  of  the  race.  — Manners  of  the  former  inhabitants 
of  New  Cytherea.  — Public  offerings  to  Venus.— Opinions  of  Cook 
and  de  Bougainville  on  the  debauchery  of  the  Tahitians.— Good 
Friday  in  Lancashire.— Timorodee,  the  lascivious  dance.  — Sacred 
orgies  and  erotic  festivals.  —  Ancient  rites. -The  ancient 
Peruvians.— The  sect  of  the  Nicolites.— The  aborigines  of 
Australia.— The  Hawaian  Hula-Hula.— The  West  African 
Negroes. —  The  South  American  Puri.— Christian  festivals. — 
New  Britain  Islands.— Esthonia.— Marriage  amongst  the 
Tahitians.— Circumcision  and  tattooing.  — Tattooing  on  women.— 
The  sect  of  the  Arrioys,  amongst  whom  woman  is  in  common. — 
The  happy  life  of  the  Tahitians.  — The  day's  life  of  a  Vahine' 
at  Papeete.— Jealousy  of  the  present  race  of  Tahitians. — Tahitian 
hospitality. — The  true  character  of  the  Vahine. —Marriage  after 
trial. -"If  thee  tak,  I  tak  thee". -The  "Come  Nights".— The 
Philippine  Islands.  [Pago    347 


XVIII 


CONTENTS 


Chapter  XIII. 

Perversions  of  the  sexual  passion  amongst  the  Tahitians.— The 
Tane. — Corruption  of  the  Vahine  in  contact  with  the  European. — 
Sexual  perversions  of  the  Vahine.— Masturbation  and  Sapphism. — 
The  influence  of  race  in  genital  perversions.  [Page    378 


XDlntrobben  jFielbs  of 
Hntbropoloo^- 


PART  THE  THIRD.-  AFRICA. 

Senegal  and  the  South  Rivers. 
CHAPTER  I. 

Sent  to  Senegal.  —  All ival  at  Saint  Louis. —  General  ifnptession 
of  the  Senegal  coast.  —  A  few  ivords  about  the  town  of  Saint 
Louis. —  The  Black   Town. — Anthropological  characteristics  of  the 

Wolof  race.  —  The  beauty  of  the  young  Negress. —  Operation  per- 
formed on  the  breasts  of  women  lying-in. — The  genital  organs 
of  Negroes. — Rapes  and  other  offences  against  modesty  amongst 

Creoles  and  Negroes. 

Sent  to  Senegal.  A  short  time  after  my  return  from 
Guiana,  I  was  sent  to  Senegal,  where  a  terrible  epi- 
demic of  yellow  fever  had  disorganised  the  medical 
service,  and  necessitated  the  despatch  of  more  doctors, 
hospital  attendants,  etc. 

Arrival  at  Saint  Louis.  The  Government  transport, 
which  I  was  on  board,  arrived  at  Saint  Louis  one 
Sunday,  coasted  along  the  shore,  and  anchored  before 
the  bar  at  the  entrance  to  the  river. 

The  General  Impression  produced  by  the  Senegal 


2  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

Coast.      M.     Loti,    of   the    Academy,    has    admirably 
described  the  aspect  of  the  coast  of  Senegal,  and  the 
impression  it  produces  upon  the  traveller  who  has  just 
come  from  France.      "  In  descending  the  coast  of  Africa, 
when  you  have  passed  the  southern  border  of  Morocco, 
you  coast  along,  for  days  and  nights,  an  interminable, 
desolate    shore.      This    is    the    Sahara,    the    great    sea 
without    water,    which   the    Moors    also    call  Balad-ul- 
atish,  1     or    'the    land    of  thirst.'      Solitude    succeeds 
solitude,  with  mournful  monotony  of  moving  sand-hills 
and    indefinite   horizon ;    and   the  heat  increases  in  in- 
tensity day  by  day.     And  then  appears  above  the  sand, 
an    old    and    white    city,    planted    with   a    few  yellow 
palms;    this   is   Saint   Louis  of  Senegal,  the  capital  of 
Senegambia.     A  church,  a  mosque,  a  tower,  and  some 
Moorish   looking   houses.     These    all   seem  to  doze  in 
the   hot    sunlight,    like   those  Portuguese  towns  which 
formerly   flourished   on    the   Congo    coast.   Saint  Paul, 
and  Saint  Philippe  de  Benguela.     You  approach,  and 
you    are    astonished  to  find  that  the  town  is  not  built 
on    the    coast,    that   it   has    not  even  a  port,  nor  any 
communication  with  the  exterior  ;  the  coast,  which  is  low 
and  straight,  is  as  inhospitable  as  that  of  the  Sahara, 
and  an  vmending  line  of  breakers  prevents  the  approach 
of  ships.     You  then  notice,  what  you  had  not  perceived 
from  a  distance  ;  immense  human  ant-hills,  on  the  shores 
thousands  and  thousands  of  thatched  cottages,  liliputian 
huts  with  pointed  roofs,  beneath  which  huddles  an  odd 
Negro  population." 

*  This  word  is  shortened  in  the  "dog-like,"  Arabic  patois  of  the  Moors 
to  Bled-al-atish.  Senegal  is  the  oldest  colony  of  France,  and  dates  as 
far  back  roughly  speaking  as  1368,  when  the  hardy  sailors  of  Dieppe 
first  came  across,  and  disputed  its  possession  with  the  adventurous  Por- 
tuguese. The  narrative  of  its  gradual  conquest  is  one  of  the  most  ex- 
citing in  the  history  of  European  colonisation. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  .  3 

A  Few  Words  about  the  Town  of  Saint  Louis. 

Saint  Louis  is  about  eighteen  miles  from  the  mouth  of 
the  Senegal.  The  town  is  entirely  built  upon  an  island 
of  a  very  long  lozenge  shape,  a  mile  and  a  quarter 
long,  and  500  yards  broad.  In  the  centre  are  massed 
the  Government  House,  the  Church,  and  the  huge 
Rogniat  Barracks;  a  little  to  the  south  is  the  Hospital, 
and  in  the  north,  the  Mosque.  All  around,  in  the 
central  part,  are  screets  in  the  direction  of  the  axes  of 
the  lozenge,  and  bordered  with  houses  in  masonry  of 
a  cubical  form,  and  generally  of  only  one  store}/',  and 
with  flat  roofs  forming  terraces,  called,  in  the  language 
of  the  country,  argarnasses.  These  argamasses  serve 
to  receive  the  rain  water.  Saint  Louis  having  no 
springs  or  wells  of  really  drinkable  water.  There  is 
no  verdure,  unless  it  be  a  few  palm  trees  in  occasional 
corners,  and  the  rudiments  of  a  garden  round  the 
Government  House,  kept  up  at  a  great  expense  during 
the  dry  season,  when  a  barrel  of  water  costs  a  dollar. 

A  sojourn  at  Saint  Louis  is  not  enchanting,  for  the 
place  is  the  very  opposite  of  that  verdant  spot,  Cayenne, 
where  the  vegetation  is  extraordinarily  exuberant. 
Here  there  is  nothing  but  yellow  grey  sand,  and  walls 
painted  white,  the  reflection  from  which  blinds  you. 
According  to  my  custom,  I  took  up  my  residence  at 
the  north  point  of  the  town,  at  the  extreme  limit  of 
the  European  quarter,  in  order  to  be  as  much  as 
possible  in  contact  with  the  Black  population,  whose 
huts  and  low  houses  (in  brick  for  the  rich  people)  arc 
relegated  to  the  two  extremities  of  the  town. 

The  Black  Town.  In  that  part  of  the  island  which 
forms  the  Black  Town,  are  crowded  together  the  huts 
and    hovels  of  the  Negroes,  which  are  in  the  form  of 


4  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

our  bee-hives.  On  visiting  them  you  will  find  some 
gntted,  overturned,  or  burnt.  From  the  conical  roofs 
of  those  which  appear  to  be  inhabited,  hang  dirty  rags, 
and  scraps  of  meat  and  fish.  Negro  boys,  quite  naked, 
run  about  here  and  there  on  the  sand  of  the  river 
banks, — banks  that  have  fallen  in,  and  are  covered 
with  filth.  Some  old  Negresses,  hardly  covered  with 
miserable  rags  of  cotton  drawers,  and  their  hanging 
breasts  all  bare,  —crouch  down  before  the  doors  of  the 
huts,  smoking  their  pipes,  and  watching  any  stray 
European  who  is  passing.  In  front  of  the  door,  is  the 
mortar  for  grinding  meal,  hollowed  out  of  an  immense 
tree  trunk,  and  you  may  often  see  a  woman,  carrying 
her  child  astride  on  her  buttocks,  and  handling  the 
heavy  pestle.  Young  Negroes,  quite  bare,  girls  and 
boys,  with  just  a  string  of  glass  beads  round  their 
waists,  surround  you  and  pursue  you  with  the  mono- 
tonous refrain,   "  Toubab,  give  me  ha'penny." 

If  you  pass  from  the  extremity  of  the  island  to  the 
narrow  sand-bank  which  extends  between  the  sea  and 
the  right  bank  of  the  river,  you  will  come  across  the 
suburban  village  of  Guet  '  N '  Dar,  which  is  connected 
with  the  town  by  a  little  bridge,  built  on  beams.  In 
this  suburb  is  held  the  native  market,  so  picturesquely 
described  by  Loti.  ^  If  you  leave  the  town  by  the  East, 
to  go  to  the  large  island  of  Sohr,  you  must  pass  over 
a  bridge  of  boats  half  a  mile  long. 

Anthropological    Characteristics    of  the  Wolof 

Race.  The  town  of  Saint  Louis  is  almost  entirely 
populated  by  the  Yolof,  or  Wolof,  race,  but  you  may 
also  find  there  examples  of  all  the  Negro  races  of 
Senegal.     It  would  take  too  long  to  describe  all  these 

'  Le  Roman  tVun  Spahi,  by  Pierre  Loti,  Paris,   1896. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  5 

different  races,  and  by  choosing  the  Wolofs  as  a  type. 
I  shall  be  able  to  point  out  the  principal  differences 
between  this  race  and  the  others. 

The  first  few  steps  that  a  traveller  takes  in  Saint 
Louis  and  its  Negro  suburbs,  will  reveal  to  him  a 
striking  difference  between  the  inhabitants  of  the 
American  colonies,  and  the  African  Negro.  The 
Blacks  of  the  Antilles,  and  Guiana,  are  descended 
from  slaves,  imported  from  all  corners  of  Africa,  since 
the  time  of  Louis  XIIL,  and  whose  descendants  were 
set  free  in  1848.  The  admixture  of  all  these  different 
tribes  has  produced  a  race  without  any  original 
characteristics,  more  or  less  bastardized,  and  corrupted, 
by  contact  with  the  White  man,  and  the  stain  of  the 
slavery  of  their  ancestors.  In  Senegal  it  is  not  the 
same.  Although  slavery  exists,  the  various  races  have 
preserved  their  peculiar  characteristics,  and  there  is  a 
great  difference,  for  example,  between  a  Wolof  and  a 
Peulh. 

The  Wolofs  originally  came  from  Walo,  and  little 
by  little  have  established  themselves  in  the  capital  of 
Senegal.  But  they  have  preserved  the  manners  and 
customs  of  their  forefathers,  though  they  have  allowed 
themselves  to  be  converted  to  Islam.  It  is  for 
their  use,  that  a  fine  mosque  has  been  erected  at 
North  Point.  Their  huts  line  the  streets  of  the  town, 
and  are  divided  into  groups,  separated  by  tapades,  or 
screens  of  woven  reeds,  five  or  six  feet  high.  There 
is  always  a  court  in  front  of  these  huts.  Whilst  the 
woman  works  in  the  house,  the  man  fishes,  hunts,  or 
does  a  little  work  of  some  sort. 

The  Wolofs  are  a  fine  race ;  their  average  stature 
is  greater  than  that  of  the  European.  The  arms 
and   legs    are   long,  but  though  the  thigh  is  tolerably 


6  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

fleshy,  the  calf  is  very  thin.  The  foot  is  large  and 
flat,  and  the  head  small.  Loti,  in  the  Roman  d'un 
Spahi,  exactly  depicts  the  Wolof  in  a  few  Hnes :  "  If 
a  vessel  anchors  before  Saint  Louis,  you  will  soon  see 
it  surrounded  by  long  pirogues,  pointed  at  the  prow 
like  a  fish's  head,  and  manned  by  Blacks  who  stand 
and  paddle.  The  boatmen  are  tall,  thin,  and  of  hercu- 
lean strength,  well-made  and  muscular,  with  faces  like 
gorillas,  and  possessed  of  true  Negro  obstinacy,  and 
the  agiHty  and  strength  of  acrobats;  ten  times  have 
they  been  driven  back  by  the  breakers,  and  ten 
times  have  they  recommenced  their  task;  their  black 
skins,  wet  with  sweat  and  sea  water,  gleam  like  polished 
ebony. " 

The  children  go  about  quite  naked,  until  they  attain 
the  age  of  puberty,  and  have  no  hair  but  one  woolly 
lock  left  on  their  otherwise  clean-shaved  heads.  When 
the  boys  attain  puberty,  which  is  generally  at  about 
twelve  or  thirteen  years  of  age,  they  don  a  blue  or 
white  boubou,  a  sort  of  long  full  shirt  in  cotton,  with 
no  sleeves,  and  no  seam  down  the  sides,  and  which 
falls  almost  to  the  feet.  When  the  girls  become  nubile, 
that  is  to  say  at  ten  or  twelve  years  at  the  latest, 
they  wear  cotton  drawers,  and  have  the  bust  naked, 
but  they  often  replace  this  garment,  when  they  grow 
to  be  women,  by  a  boubou,  rather  shorter  than  that 
of  the  men. 

The    Beauty    of   the    Young   Negress.     In   the 

children,  we  can  therefore  watch  the  progressive  devel- 
opment of  the  race.  The  Wolofs  do  not,  Uke  some 
races  of  the  interior  of  Africa,  tattoo  themselves.  If 
it  were  not  that  the  breasts  are  disfigured  when  the 
first  child  is  born,  and  the  head  with  its  flat  nose  and 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  7 

thick  lips,  the  Negresses  would  be  perfect  specimens 
of  humanity.  This  may  easily  be  imagined,  for  they 
live  in  the  open  air,  the  full  development  of  their  body 
and  limbs  is  not  interfered  with,  and  they  may  be 
said  to  grow  like  plants  out  of  doors;  the  bust  is 
never  deformed  by  the  use  of  the  corset,  that  instrument 
of  torture  of  civilised  woman.  ^ 

The  Negress  (girl  or  woman)  having  to  handle  for 
several  hours  a  day,  a  pestle  that  weighs  eighteen  or 
twenty  pounds,  acquires  by  means  of  that  repeated 
gymnastic  exercise,  a  fine  development  of  the  muscles 
of  the  arm  and  shoulder.  They  are  strong  and  vigorous, 
and  the  Toubab  (White)  who  tried  to  offer  violence  to 
one  of  these  Negresses,  would  soon  find  out  his 
mistake.  The  breast  of  the  young  girl,  who  is  of 
nubile  age  and  has  not  had  any  children,  is  pear-shaped, 
but  compact,  hard,  and  resisting,  and  the  nipples  are 
very  hard,  and  point  out  horizontally  under  the  boubou. 
The    walk    is   light    and    graceful,    and    the  pagne   or 

*  The  ancients  were  strangers  to  this  modern  horror,  unless  we  class 
the  belt  or  ceinttire  worn  by  the  Roman  girls  and  matrons  in  this 
category.  Various  names  were  given  to  them,  according  to  whether 
they  were  placed  across  the  breasts  or  the  hips,  next  to  the  body  or 
over  the  clothes.  The  Latins  called  them  :  Cestus,  Capittum,  Fascia, 
Taenia,  Mamillare;  while  among  the  Greeks  they  were  known  as: 
Strophion,  Zotie,.  Apodesmos.  From  such  simple  beginnings  gradually 
evolved  the  complicated  bit  of  machinery  that  European  dames  and 
virgins  love  to  imprison  themselves  in  to-day.  In  1727,  the  Chevalier  de 
Nisard  became  so  enthusiastic  on  the  subject,  that  he  broke  out  into 
the  following  rhapsody:  — 

"Est-il  rien  de  plus  beau  (ju'un  corset. 
Qui  naturellement  figure, 
Et  qui  montre  comme  on  est  fait, 
Dans  le  moule  de  la  Nature." 

Those  who  feel  interested  in  the  subject  may  refer  to  Ernest  Leoty's 
charming  little  work   "  Le  Corset  a.  travers  Us  Ages"  (Paris,    iSg'i). 


8  UNTRODDEN   B'lELDS   OF 

drawers,  which  cover  the  lower  part  of  the  body,  if 
draped  gracefully,  does  not  detract  from  the  grace  of 
her  movements.  After  she  has  borne  her  first  child, 
all  is  changed.  ^  The  beauty  of  the  breasts,  and  of 
the  body  in  general,  quickly  fades.  The  breast  becomes 
elongated,  and  hangs  down  like  the  udder  of  a  she- 
goat,  to  which  indeed  it  bears  a  certain  resemblance. 
The  cause  of  this  is  very  simple,  though  I  believe  it 
is  but  little  known,  for  I  have  not  found  it  mentioned 
in  any  book  of  travels  in  Senegal,  or  Africa,  with 
which  I  am  acquainted. 

Operation  on  the  Breasts  of  Women  lying-in. 

The  Negress  must  have  both  hands  free,  when  she 
works  the  heavy  meal-pestle.  That  is  why  she  carries 
her  child  astride  on  her  buttocks,  and  supported  there 
by  a  large  piece  of  linen,  which  passes  under  the 
child's  arms,  and  is  fastened  under  the  woman's  breasts. 
When  the  child  wants  to  suck,  the  mother  pulls  it  to 
either  side,  then  pushes  her  breast  under  her  arm, 
and  goes  on  with  her  work  whilst  the  child  is  suckling. 
The  mere  weight  of  the  milk  would  be  insufficient  to 
pull  down  the  breast  of  a  young  woman,  and  make 
it  sufficiently  long.  This  curious  deformity  is  caused 
by  a  surgical  operation,  which  the  old  matrons  perform 
upon  the  young  women,  when  they  are  lying-in.  This 
operation  consists  in  cutting  the  subcutaneous  muscles 
which  support  the  breasts,  by  an  oblique  incision,  which 

'  This  peculiarity  of  a  rapid  change  and  loss  of  form  and  firmness  in 
the  breasts  of  the  Black  woman,  on  her  attainment  of  motherhood,  has 
also  been  noted  in  the  Viennese  ladies.  Burton,  with  his  usual  'cuteness, 
has  already  noted  the  fact  (see  "Terminal  Essay"  of  the  tenth  volume 
of  the  UNBOWDLERlSED  edition  of  his  "Nights;"  also  page  248  of  the 
** Book  of  Exposition,"  Paris,    1896). 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  9 

is  done  very  skilfully,  but  is  so  painful  that  it  makes 
the  patient  cry  out.  The  young  woman  does  not, 
however,  utter  a  cry  or  groan  during  the  act  of 
parturition,  and  gets  up  two  hours  afterwards  in  order 
to  bathe  her  infant.  The  large  size  of  the  womb 
renders  the  delivery  very  easy, — much  more  so  than 
is  the  case  with  the  Annamite  Congai,  who  remains 
in  bed  forty  days,  and  has  to  take  the  greatest  pre- 
cautions to  prevent  a  deadly  attack  of  peritonitis.  The 
method  of  carrying  the  infant  on  the  back  is  very 
convenient  for  the  child,  for  the  Negress  has  generally 
very  well-developed  buttocks,  and  on  this  rounded 
double  cushion  the  child  is  as  comfortable  as  though 
it  were  on  a  seat.  But  this  plan  has  the  disadvantage 
of  bowing  the  legs,  and  the  child  very  often  acquires 
much  the  same  sort  of  walk  as  a  dismounted  horseman. 

The  Genital  Organs  of  Negroes.  It  is  only  among 
a  few  of  the  Negro  races  that  the  exterior  genitals  of 
women  have  been  as  carefully  examined  and  described 
as  in  DE  Rochebrune'S  work  on  the  Wolof  Negroes, 

These  genitals  he  describes  as  being  slightly  developed. 
A  slit  of  only  a  few  millimeters  long  represented  the 
big  labia,  the  nymphcp  are  so  to  say  rudimentary, 
measuring  0.004  "i-  across,  and  0.021  m.  in  length;  the 
entire  vulva  is  thus  characterised  by  a  depression,  the 
surface  being  exteriorly  bounded  by  two  ellipsoid 
wrinkles,  which  from  the  lower  part  and  the  middle 
of  the  Mons  Veneris  spread  out  until  they  reach  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  front  region  of  the  perinaeum; 
at  the  same  the  inner  borders  of  these  wrinkles  join 
together,  forming  merely  a  light  wavy  line,  to  be 
observed  even  on  women  of  a  certain  age.  These 
parts   differ   also   from  the    others  in  colour,  which  is 


lO  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

paler  than  the  rest  of  the  skin  which  is  black,  in  adults 
the  nymphcB  are  of  a  slaty-blue,  whereas  in  young 
girls  they  are  dark  red. 

The  clitoris  continually  stands  out;  in  all  the 
cases  where  it  was  measured,  its  dimensions  were 
0.013  in-  ill  the  middle  of  the  exposed  part. 

This  formation  differs  considerably  from  that  of 
European  women.  On  the  other  hand,  however,  the 
usual  lengthening  out  of  the  nymphcB,  which  other 
observers  have  described  as  being  a  characteristic  of 
Negro  women,  is  not  found  among  the  Wolof  Negroes ; 
on  the  contrary,  with  them  the  nymphcB  seem  to  be 
to  a  certain  extent  atrophied ;  one  might,  as  de  Roche- 
BRUNE,  speak  of  a  genuine  arrest  of  development.  ^  In 
fact,  the  outspringing  of  the  clitoris  excepted,  the 
further  development  of  the  outer  surface  of  the  vulva 
cannot  be  better  compared  with  other  parts  than  with 
those  of  an  European  maiden  of  from  8  to  10  years 
of  age. 

Very  remarkable  also  is  the  position  which  this 
organ  occupies.  If  a  perpendicular  line  is  supposed 
through  the  body  of  the  woman  from  head  to  foot, 
and  if  a  perpendicular  surface  is  supposed  through  this 
line  at  the  level  of  the  anus,  it  will  be  found  that  the 
fossa  navicularis  ^  is  situated  in  this  plane,  and  there- 
fore the  base  of  the  vulva  is  situated  in  a  point  relatively 
high  as  regards  the  vertical  line.  This  is  also  further 
observable  in  the  length  of  the  perinaeum,  which  is 
very  remarkable.  Whilst  its  average  length  in  Euro- 
pean   woman    is   0.012    m.,    in   the   Wolof  Negress  it 

'  Rochebrune    (A.    Fremeau    de)    in    the    " Revue  d' Anthropologie" 
1881,  IV.   2. 

'  i.e.  pudendum. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  I  1 

attains  to  0.025  "^- >  this  difference  of  0.013  m.  shows, 
that  the  vulva  lies  back  by  that  quantity. 

Rapes  and  other  Offences  against  Modesty 
amongst  Creoles  and  Negroes.  ^  Among  the  races 
inhabiting  warm  climates,  there  are  several  conditions 
which  awaken  and  over-excite  the  genetic  sense  at  an 
early  age.  The  climate  in  this  plays  only  an  indirect 
part;  for  if  at  first  it  determines  a  more  or  less  active 
sexual  stimulus,  it  soon  tempers  and  enervates,  and 
renders  continence  easy  to  those  who  do  not  seek  to 
violate  it.  But  a  warm  temperature  engenders  habits 
only  too  likely  to  provoke  licentiousness.  There  is  in 
this  opposition  between  the  cosmical  influence  and  the 
social  influences  derived  from  it,  a  contrast,  the  effects 
of  which  have  long  been  the  object  of  observation. 
The  East,  which  in  the  early  ages  of  Christianity 
produced  such  a  number  of  illustrious  virgins  and  pious 
hermits,  and  which  at  the  present  day  shows  us  the 
high  honour  in  which  chastity  is  held  in  Buddhist 
countries,  has  also  given  to  the  world  traditions  of 
the  vilest  debauchery.  Sexuality,  where  it  is  not 
sufficiently  restrained  by  conventual  or  religious  obliga- 
tion, but  where,  on  the  contrary,  its  instinct  meets  with 
innumerable  solicitations,  must  have  many  slips  in 
consequence,  and  such  is  the  case  in  Creole  countries.  In 
the  French  colonies  the  dominant  race  is  that  of  the  Negro, 
the  most  salacious  of  all,  and  there  the  White  Man 
shows  a  sort  of  taste  for  the  coloured  woman,  the 
origin  of  which  may  perhaps  be  traced  to  a  mysterious 

'  We  give  this  extract  from  Dr.  Corre's  book,  Le  Crime  en  Pays 
Creoles,  as  supplementing  our  observations  on  the  manners  and  customs, 
prevalent  in  the  French  Guiana,  dealt  with  in  the  first  volume, 


12  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

law  of  renovation  by  crossing  of  races ;  however,  the 
prejudice  of  colour  prevents  legitimate  unions,  which 
would  be  so  profitable  to  the  regular  development  of 
the  population  and  to  the  improvement  of  morals, 
instead  of  which  it  contributes  to  maintain  them  in  a 
deplorable  state  of  dissoluteness.  The  state  of  nudity, 
or  that  thin  light  costume  which  partly  reveals  the 
form  of  the  body  and  presents  it  more  seductively  to 
the  imagination,  provokes  desire.  The  facility  of  inter- 
course increases  the  danger  of  the  contact  between 
the  sexes,  the  more  so  that  the  numerical  disproportion 
that  has  been  observed  between  them  obliges  all  the 
women  to  vie  with  each  other  in  coquetry,  advances, 
so  to  say,  in  order  to  attract  the  gaze  and  the  choice 
of  men.  Further,  in  the  inevitably  idle  life  woman  is 
obliged  to  lead  in  the  tropics,  her  natural  aspirations 
are  subjected  to  a  compression  which  often  transforms 
them  into  a  particular  vice.  Among  Muslims,  the 
concentration  of  a  greater  or  lesser  number  of  women 
into  the  possession  of  one  male  develops,  in  the  men, 
by  reason  of  satiety  of  the  opposite  sex,  erotic  habits, 
\  which  lead  them  to  hoy  love;  in  the  French  colonies, 
cottntries  of  Christian  civilisation,  official  monogamy 
thrusts  outside  of  the  pale  of  married  life  many  young 
girls,  who  interiorly  rebel  against  their  situation,  at 
the  same  time  that  concubinage,  permitted  to  the 
husband,  deprives  the  wife,  to  the  profit  of  the  mistress, 
of  a  considerable  share  of  the  marital  property ;  the 
man  remains  faithful  to  the  cult  of  woman;  for  the 
lively  and  graceful  beings  to  whom  he  addresses  it 
have  nothing  of  the  inertia  and  passiveness  of  the  sad 
sequestered  women  of  the  harem ;  but  the  wife  seeks 
the  satisfaction  of  her  unsatiated  longings  .  .  .  without 
compromising  herself,  among  her  friends  or  companions, 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  1 3 

already  initiated  into  the  Lesbian  mysteries.  Pederastic 
habits  are  hardly  ever  heard  of  among  the  Creoles, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  the  celebrated  dialognae  between 
Megilla  and  Liena  is  often  repeated  among  them.  ^ 
The  necessity  of  residing  in  a  torrid  climate  in  very 
open  houses,  if  it  diminishes  the  chances  of  adultery, 
while  leaving  a  sufficient  liberty  to  the  women  in  a 
sort  of  intercourse  which  seems  beneath  suspicion,  has 
the  grave  objection  of  furnishing  to  the  curiosity  of 
children,  much  too  soon,  unwholesome  occasions  for 
its  exercise :  so  that  a  youth  enters  very  early  on  his 
first  campaign  in  the  amorous  career,  and  it  is  frequently 
the  same  with  the  young  girl,  under  one  form  or 
another,  if  she  is  not  protected  by  sufficient  education. 
In  the  upper  classes,  there  is  always  a  proper  varnish 
of  good  morals,  often  indeed  based  upon  a  foundation 
of  real  virtue.  But  in  the  others,  they  too  ordinarily 
express  by  blamable,  if  not  criminal,  acts  the  perversions 
or  the  brutality  of  the  sexual  sense. 

In  January  1866,  at  Pointe-a-Pitre,  three  coloured 
girls  were  accused  of  a  criminal  assault  on  a  Negress 
of  14  years  of  age,  who  repulsed  their  proposals. 

In  February  1888,  in  consequence  of  a  complaint 
lodged  by  the  parents  of  the  victims,  Dr.  Blane  was 
commissioned  to  go  and  examine,  at  Capesterre,  the 
state  of  two  twin  Negro  sisters,  aged  12  years,  whom 
a    Mulatto    woman    had    deflowered    with    her   finger. 

In  matters  of  this  nature  the  case  is  almost  always 
dismissed  or  else  the  accused  acquitted,  not  because  the 
presumptions  of  a  culpable  action  are  entirely  set  aside, 

*  Lucian,  Hetaer.  dial.  V.  In  the  East,  for  similar  reasons,  the  same 
tastes  are  developed  among  the  women  of  the  harems ;  the  insufficiency 
of  genetic  satisfaction  on  the  one  side,  and  the  excess  of  the  same  on 
the  otlier,  bring  about  naturally  a  seeking  for  anti-natural  love. 


14  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

but  because  they  disappear  behind  the  established  fact 
of  flagrant  habits  of  precocious  lasciviousness  in 
young    girls  suddenly  become  so  rigidly  virtuous. 

Men,  here,  very  seldom  commit  criminal  assaults  on 
children  of  their  own  sex.  The  only  case  I  have  met 
with  in  the  registers  examined  by  me  at  Guadeloupe  ^ 
was  that  of  a  White  Man,  of  excellent  family,  admitted 
at  too  young  an  age  to  direct  pupils,  who  but  the 
day  before  had  been  his  comrades :  this  vicious  young 
fellow  continued  to  practise,  with  others  equally  vicious, 
habits  they  had  contracted  together  when  sitting  on 
the  same  benches  at  school,  without  understanding 
that  the  change  in  his  position  gave  additional  gravity 
to  his  acts! 

Characteristics     of    Creole     Criminality.      The 

criminal  assaults  committed  by  men  are  generally  on 
children  or  adults  of  the  female  sex,  and  are  committed 
by  young  and  vigorous  Negroes,  but  not  always  of 
violent  or  brutal  instincts;  in  Creole  countries  violation 
in  this  respect  presents  some  particular  characteristics. 
It  is  exceptional  for  it  to  be  committed  with  violence 
on  children ;  it  is  sometimes  done  by  surprise  or  by 
moral  constraint,  under  circumstances  analogous  or 
similar  to  those  which  generally  distinguish  this  crime 
with  us;  more  often,  it  seemed  to  me,  when  the 
attempt  is  made,  it  is  with  the  complicity  more  or  less 
proved  or  at  least  with  the  consciousness  of  the  little 
girl  already  initiated  in  the  sexual  act,  obeying 
willingly,    or    even    herself    provoking    it;    the    child 

'  I  restrict  myself  to  the  study  of  Creole  criminality,  and  therefore 
shall  not  mention  a  criminal  assault  committed  on  young  boys  by  a 
schoolmaster  of  European  origin,  belonging  to  the  "  Christian  Brothers 
Congregation." 


ANTH  ROPOLOG  Y.  1 5 

dissimulates,  or  else  admits  the  fact  only  when  it  has 
been  discovered  and  that  it  has  brought  upon  her  the 
threats  of  her  parents.  * 

Blackmail  a  Ground  of  Accusation.  It  may  be 
understood  that,  in  a  population  which  presents  such 
looseness  of  manners,  the  magistrates  and  doctors 
are  obliged  to  use  the  utmost  circumspection.  More 
than  one  accusation  hides  beneath  it  either  revenge 
or  an  attempt  to  blackmail.  Sometimes  the  criminal 
attempt  has  been  got  up,  with  infernal  immodesty, 
between  the  victim  and  her  parents,  or  else  any  initial 
scene  at  all  is  dispensed  with,  and  father,  mother 
and  child  agree  marvellously  together  to  concoct  a 
calumny  against  the  man  they  wish  to  ruin.  It  is 
now  25  years  ago,  at  Martinique,  I  was  in  the  con- 
sulting-room of  a  physician,  when  a  couple  of  Negroes 
brought  in  a  little  girl  of  from  5  to  6  years  old,  with 
a  very  wide-awake  look  and  decided  gestures;  they 
wanted  her  to  be  visited,  asserting  that  she  had  been 
violated  the  previous  day,  or  the  day  before  that,  by 
a  bad  man,  their  next-door  neighbour!  The  child  was 
laid  upon  a  table ;  before  there  had  been  time  to  say 
a  single  word  to  her,  she  quickly  lifted  up  her  clothes 
and,  without  hesitation,  placed  herself  in  the  posture  of 
a  woman,  who  is  holding  herself  ready  for . . .  whatever 
may  be  desired :  she  presented  no  traces  at  all  of 
lesions . . .  and  the  accusation  was  a  false  one.  One  of 
my  colleagues  related  to  me  that  he  was  one  day 
called  in,  to  a  respectable  family,  to  examine  a  little 
girl  of  from  8  to  10  years  old,  who,  her  parents 
pretended,   had   been   violated   by   a   personage  ...  of 

'  I  may  observe  incidentally  that  in  many  of  these  little  girls  preco- 
city manifests  itself,  by  the  abnormal  development  of  the  external  genital 
organs    and  the  premature  appearance  of  the  menses. 


16  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

quasi-official  rank ;  the  matter  was  grave !  The  child 
of  her  own  accord  lay  down  on  her  back,  exposing 
her  person  with  the  utmost  effrontery,  but  presenting 
nothing  more  than  an  abnormal  development  of  the 
external  genital  organs  and  of  the  clitoris;  my  col- 
league, guessing  with  what  sort  of  creature  he  had  to 
do,  asked  her  under  his  breath  if  she  was  not  in  the 
habit  of  doing  z'amie  ^  and  she  replied  by  a  smile 
and  a  cynical  glance,  as  if  there  could  be  the  least 
doubt  of  so  natural  a  thing !  The  child  had  built  up, 
piece  by  piece,  an  accusation  against  a  man  who  had 
doubtless  taken  her  fancy,  but  whose  reputation  was 
far  above  suspicion,  and  the  parents  had  believed  in 
this  odious  falsehood !  * 

The  Psychology  of  Negro  Brutality.  In  criminal 
assaults  on  adults,  the  Negro  will  sometimes  resort 
to  brutal  means,  for  instance,  if  he  is  drunk.  But 
usually,  when  he  uses  violence,  it  is  with  the  con- 
viction that  he  is  merely  carrying  to  the  extreme  his 
part  as  lover,  to  the  unavowed  satisfaction  of  the  resist- 
ing woman.  He  does  not  attack  women  of  notorious 
virtue,  but  those  whom  he  has  seen  to  easily  grant  to 
others  the  favours  he  envies ;  he  had  supposed,  in  per- 
fect good  faith,  that  he  might  dare  to  take  what  was 
only  pretended  to  be  denied  him  ...  for  form's  sake, 
and  he  is  astounded  when  he  hears  a  sentence  pro- 
nounced against  him. 

Narcotization  not  a  Factor.     The   way  in  which 

'  This  is  the  current  expression  used  to  designate  those  enjoyments 
which  girls  and  women  procure  to  each  other. 

'  As  I  am  writing  for  those  persons  who  are  interested  in  questions 
of  criminality,  for  serious  reasons  or  professionally,  I  do  not  feel  called 
upon  to  sacrifice  the  instructive  realism-  of  my  observations  to  a  silly 
mock-modesty. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  17 

these    outrages    are    committed    excludes    all    idea    of 
the  previous  preparing  of  the  victim  by  narcotization. 
I     would     not     maintain    that    criminal    outrages     or 
attempts    may    not    at    times    have    been     perpetrated 
without   their    knowledge   on  persons  rendered  uncon- 
scious   by    opium,    thrown    into    their    food    or  drink. 
At    all    events,    I  know  of  no  case  of  the  kind.     The 
crime,      in      ordinary      cases,      has     been     thoroughly 
premeditated,  in  the  sense  that  the  aggressor  has  for  a 
more  or  less  long  time  coveted  the  woman,  that  he  has 
sought    for   a   propitious    moment  to  get  possession  of 
her :  nevertheless,  as  he  has  prepared  nothing  to  bring 
about     the     circumstances    which    have    favoured    his 
design,    the    assault    remains   accidental,  and,  for  that 
reason,    is    to    some   degree  attenuated  in  the  eyes  of 
the  judges  and  of  the  jury;  it  seems  even  as  if  there 
was  a  tendency  to  nearly  always  exclude  the  idea  of 
violence,    for  the  penalties  applied  rarely  exceed  from 
I    to    2    years'   imprisonment.  ^     But  the  frequency  of 
criminal  assault  by  surprise,  the  audacity  and  off-hand 
manner  with   which  it  is  often  accomplished,  point  to 
a  certainty  of  impunity,  among  the  accused,  the  cause 
of  which    may    perhaps    be    referred  to  a  new  Creole 
superstition.     They   believe   over   there   that  there  are 
sorcerers     who     possess     secrets    for    making    people 

'  The  Court  of  Bourges  and  the  Criminal  Chamber  of  the  Court  of 
Cassation  had,  not  long  ago,  to  decide  in  a  case  of  criminal  Jissault,  of 
quite  colonial  character.  The  accused  party  rejected  the  crimination  of 
assault  with  violence :  "  He  had  introduced  himself,  favoured  by  the 
night,  into  the  bed  of  his  victim,  who  had  let  him  have  his  will, 
mistaking  him  for  her  husband."  The  woman  did  not  discover  her 
error  until  the  act  had  been  consummated.  The  High  Court  decided 
that  the  circumstance  of  violence  could  not  be  set  aside,  the  crime 
having  been  committed  without  the  reflected  consent  of  her  who  had 
been  the  sufferer. 


18  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

invisible,  *  and  when  a  theft  is  spoken  of,  the  author 
of  which  has  not  been  discovered,  they  never  fail  to 
repeat  that  he  surely  had  the  means  not  to  he  seen. 
The  man  who  dares  to  risk  himself,  panting  with  lust, 
but  not  besides  much  troubled  with  any  great  danger  of 
immediate  correction  and  of  legal  punishment,  near  to  a 
woman  lying  next  to  her  husband,  has  more  than  once 
drawn  his  bold  confidence  from  his  reliance  in  some  piai 
or  quimhois  (amulet),  capable  of  hiding  him  from  view.  ^ 

'  That  is  to  be  found  again  in  the  "  Grand  Albert"  (a  book  of  magic) 
between  a  receipt  to  make  a  person  dance  stark  naked  and  another  to 
enable  one  to  travel  ten  leagues  in  an  hour! 

"To  become  invisible.  You  have  a  black  cat  and  you  must  buy  a 
new  pot,  a  looking-glass,  a  flint  and  tinder-box,  an  agate,  some  char- 
coal and  tinder,  taking  care  to  draw  water  from  a  fountain  at  the 
stroke  of  midnight;  after  which  you  light  your  fire.  Put  the  cat  into 
the  pot  and  hold  the  lid  down  with  the  left  hand  without  ever  moving 
or  looking  behind  you,  whatever  noise  you  may  hear;  then  let  the 
cat  boil  for  24  hovu-s,  and  serve  it  on  a  new  dish;  take  the  meat  and 
throw  it  over  your  left  shoulder,  saying  these  words:  " Accipe  quod 
tibi  do,  et  nihil  amplitis"  (Take  what  I  give  thee,  and  nothing  more). 
Take  the  bones,  and  put  them  one  after  another  between  the  teeth  of  your 
left  jaw,  looking  at  the  same  time  at  your  reflection  in  the  mirror;  and  if  it 
is  not  the  good  one,  you  must  throw  it  away,  repeating  the  same  words, 
until  you  have  found  it ;  and  as  soon  as  you  no  longer  perceive  your  reflection 
in  the  glass,  withdraw  backwards,  saying :  "  Pater,  in  manus  tuas  com- 
mendo  spiritum  meum  (Father,  into  thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit). 

'  The  intrigue  of  a  very  free  Creole  novel,  printed  in  1697  (Z^  Zombi 
du  Grand  Pe'rou  ou  la  Comtesse  de  Cocagne,  by  Blessebois,  a  naval 
officer),  is  based  upon  this  belief  in  talismans  which  render  a  person  in- 
visible. The  Countess  of  Cocagne,  a  beauty  more  exalted  by  amorous 
ardour  than  adorned  by  the  qualities  of  decency  and  modesty,  goes  to 
a  M.  de  C.  . .  . ,  an  expert  in  the  magical  art,  to  ask  him  for  a  means 
to  bring  back  to  her  the  Marquis  du  Grand  Perou.  M.  de  C.  per- 
suades her  that  he  has  rendered  her  invisible,  and,  thus  transformed 
into  a  Zombi  (spirit,  ghost),  she  causes  trouble  in  the  house  of  the  Marquis. 
The  magician  contrives  to  obtain  a  substantial  reward  for  his  assistance . . . 
on  the  occasion  of  a  private  supper  with  the  Countess. 


CHAPTER   II. 

Various  races  besides  the  JVolo/s. — Musstdmans  and  Fetishists. — 
The  Toucouletir. —  Tlie  Peiilli. —  The  Sarrakliolais. —The  civilisa- 
tio7i  of  the  White  man  has  no  effect  on  the  character  of  the 
Black. —  The  Kassonke. —  The  voung  Kassonkc  girl. —  The  Malinke's 
and  Bambaras. —  The  Senegalese  sharpshooter. 

Various  Races  besides  the  Wolofs. — Mussulmans 
and  Fetishists.  I  cannot  thoroughly  describe  in 
detail  all  the  moral  characteristics,  manners,  customs, 
etc.,  of  all  the  tribes  and  races  to  be  found  in  Senegal, 
I  must  confine  myself  to  a  few  general  remarks,  and 
only  treat  hi  cxtcnso  such  points  as  more  specially 
refer  to  the  sexual  passions.  I  shall,  however,  note 
the  anthropological  characteristics  which  distinguish 
the  principal  races. 

These  may  first  be  roughly  classed  into  two  great 
divisions,  the  ^lussulmans  and  the  fetish  worshippers. 
The  Wolofs,  Sereres,  Toucouleurs,  Peulhs,  and  Soninkes 
or  Sarrakholais,  are  Mussulmans;  on  the  other  hand 
the  Bambaras,  Malinkes,  Mandingos,  and  Kassonkes 
arc  fetish  worshippers.  Other  races  of  the  South  of 
Senegambia,  as  the  Diobas  for  example,  were  originally 
fetish  worshippers,  and  have  gradually  become  Mussul- 
mans, y  Before  the  French  came  to  Senegal,  the 
Mussulmans  were  conquering  with  the  sword  the  fetish 
worshippers,  and  French  civilisation  has  greatly  interfered 
with  the  extension  of  Mahomctanism,  which  is  the  great 

19 


20  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

reason    why    the    French   axe  so  hated  by  those  who 
profess  that  rehgion. 

The  Toucouleur.  Above  Walo,  on  the  left  bank 
of  the  Senegal,  in  Fouta-Toro  and  the  neighbouring 
districts,  are  found  the  Toucouleurs,  a  very  warlike 
and  thievish  race,  and  soldiers  of  Islam.  They  were 
always  in  the  front  rank  of  the  enemies  of  the  French. 
To  their  love  of  war,  they  add  a  considerable  degree 
of  intelligence,  and  often  enroll  themselves  in  the 
regiment  of  native  sharpshooters.  It  was  from  amongst 
this  race  that  El  Hadj  'Umar  recruited  his  best  soldiers, 
and  by  their  help  was  able  to  conquer  a  large  Empire 
in  the  Soudan,  but  the  best  provinces  were  wrested 
from  him  by  the  French  some  ten  years  ago. 

The  anthropological  characteristics  of  the  Toucouleur 
differ  but  little  from  those  of  the  Wolof.  The  Toucouleur 
is  more  slender  and  less  robust,  than  the  Wolof.  He 
comes  to  Saint  Louis,  with  only  a  simple  strip  of  rag 
to  cover  his  nakedness.  He  lives  on  the  charity  of 
his  co-religionists,  and  sleeps  in  any  shelter  he  can 
find,  for  he  has  neither  hearth  nor  home.  Every 
halfpenny  he  can  earn  he  puts  away,  until  he  has 
amassed  the  twenty  francs  he  needs  for  the  purchase 
of  an  old  flint  musket,  a  little  barrel  (about  iilbs)  of 
"  treaty  powder",  and  a  dozen  spare  gun  flints.  Any 
scraps  of  metal  which  fall  in  his  way, — door  knobs, 
bits  of  wire  fencing,  saucepan  handles,  etc. — are 
carefully  stored  away,  and  with  these  the  Negro 
blacksmith  will  manufacture  projectiles,  which  will 
not  carry  far,  or  with  any  precision,  but  which,  when 
fired  at  short  range,  will  make  terriole  wounds.  Many 
French  soldiers  have  felt  their  effects. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  21 

The  Peulh  forms  a  large  race,  scattered  about  over 
the  country  between  the  Senegal  and  the  Upper  Niger. 
In  the  opinion  of  General  Faidherbe,  ^  the  Peulhs  came 
originally  from  Lower  Egypt,  and  are  descended  from 
the  Hyksos,  a  pastoral  people  driven  out  by  the  Pha- 
raohs. They  are  fanatical  Mussulmans,  and  were  of 
great  service  to  El  Hadj  'Umar.  Like  their  ancestors, 
they  are  nomadic,  and  live  on  the  produce  of  their 
flocks.  The  Peulli,  in  fact,  is  evidently  of  Semitic 
origin;  if  his  hair  is  not  smooth,  at  least  it  falls  in 
cork-screw  curls  on  his  shoulders.  The  general  tint 
of  his  body  is  of  a  reddish  brown,  and  the  external 
mucous  surface  of  the  gland,  and  the  vulva  in  the 
woman,  are  almost  as  light  as  those  of  the  Mulatto. 
The  features  are  regular,  and  he  has  not  the  thick 
nose  of  the  other  Negroes.  The  Peulh  rarely  visits 
Saint  Louis,  and  is  hardly  ever  found  in  the  ranks  of  the 
Native  Sharpshooters,  of  whom  I  shall  presently  speak. 

The  Sarrakholais.  This  people  is  certainly  of  Semitic 
origin,  and  its  name  is  synonymous  with  White  man. 
We  will  borrow  from  Colonel  Frey,  who  in  1885-86 
commanded  an  expedition  against  the  Sarrakholais, 
who  had  been  stirred  up  to  revolt  by  the  Marabout  ^ 
Mahmaduz-Zamine,  a  description  of  the  anthropological 
characteristics  of  this  race. 

'From  1854  to  1865  Faidherbe  was  the  Governor-general  of  Senegal, 
which  he  administrated  with  great  energy'  and  ability.  He  has  left 
several  important  works  on  the  races  and  countries  he  had  to  deal  with. 

'  Marabout,  derived  through  the  Portuguese  Marabuto  from  the  Arabic 
muf'aribi,  is  a  Mohammedan  "Saint"  supposed  to  work  miraculous  cures. 
These  religious  "medicine"  men  wield  immense  influence  over  credulous 
and  fanatical  peoples  who  regard  them  as  supernatural  beings ;  they 
correspond  to  the  Mollahs  of  the  Indian  frontier  tribes  and  the  fetish 
men  of  "Rhodesia". 


22  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

"  The  face  is  oval,  the  eyes  large,  and  well-shaped, 
the  nose  straight,  and  the  lips  thin.  A  Semitic  descent 
is  also  shown  in  the  carriage  of  the  head,  which  is 
proudly  held  high,  and  in  the  harmonious  proportion 
of  the  limbs,  which  are  well  made,  and  of  a  proper 
length.  If  a  young  girl  of  pure  race  is  examined, 
the  observer  is  still  more  struck  by  the  resemblance 
of  her  features  to  those  of  the  white  race.  Her  nose 
is  small,  and  often  aquiline,  with  quivering  nostrils; 
the  eyes — almond-shaped,  and  surmounted  by  long 
lashes — are  large,  and  have  a  strange  expression,  like 
those  of  a  frightened  gazelle ;  the  mouth,  nicely  and 
sometimes  prettily  shaped,  discloses  a  set  of  small, 
very  even,  and  extremely  white  teeth;  her  throat  and 
bust  are  admirably  formed;  her  limbs  well-proportioned, 
though  perhaps  a  trifle  frail;  her  legs  finely  shaped ; — 
in  fact  the  young  Sarrakholais  girl  is  '  a  pretty  little 
thing,'  not  devoid  of  a  seductive  charm.  Owing,  how- 
ever, to  numerous  crossings  with  black  races,  in  a 
great  many  of  the  Sarrakholais  these  marks  of  race 
have  become  degenerate  and  degraded,  and  have 
acquired  from  these  other  races  a  coarser,  heavier  form. 

But  there  still  remains,  as  a  characteristic  trait  of  the 
Sarrakholais  people,  an  intelligence  superior  to  that  of 
the  tribes  amongst  whom  they  live,  a  more  advanced 
civilisation,  a  greediness  of  gain  which  is  peculiar  to 
them,  and  a  really  extraordinary  aptitude  for  trade, 
which  has  caused  the  Sarrakliolais  to  be  called  'the 
pedlars  of  Western  Africa.' 

"  These  Sarrakholais  pedlars  constitute  the  whole  body 
of  the  Dioulas,  or  caravan  men.  Their  stock  consists 
of  a  little  salt,  a  few  pieces  of  cotton,  some  powder, 
and  a  few  trading  muskets.  They  travel  from  one 
country    to    another,    and   barter    and   exchange   their 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  23 

goods,  and  when  they  have  acquired  some  capital, 
they  become  slave  traders,  — that  is  the  dream  of  their 
life.  To  provide  for  this  event,  the  Dioula  takes  care 
to  furnish  himself,  before  his  departure,  with  some  very 
neatly  made  handcuffs  and  irons,  which  he  uses  for 
securing  those  captives,  who,  having  been  taken  in 
war,  cannot  resign  themselves  to  their  wretched  fate, 
and  become  violent  and  difficult  to  guard.  Captives 
of  this  sort  are  sometimes  sold  to  the  Dioula  for  a 
handful  of  salt.  Other  Sarrakholais,  who  have  no  taste 
for  travel  and  adventure,  attain  the  coveted  position  of 
householder  by  other  means.  They  come  to  Saint 
Louis,  or  to  the  outposts,  or  landing  stages,  at  the  age 
of  fifteen,  and  secure  the  most  lucrative  and  best  paid 
positions  which  can  be  obtained  by  native  employes, 
and  choose,  as  much  as  possible,  those  places  which 
require  the  least  amount  of  hard  work. 

"  Almost  all  the  native  sailors  (lap tots)  who,  at  Senegal, 
compose  the  crews  of  the  despatch  boats  and  the  trad- 
ing lighters,  are  Sarrakholais.  All  the  best  posts  as 
servants,  waiters,  and  clerks,  which  can  be  held  by 
natives,  are,  at  Saint  Louis,  occupied  by  Sarrakholais. 
Of  the  sixteen  'river  captains', — a  kind  of  pilot,  whose 
position  is  much  envied  by  the  natives,  on  account  of 
the  privileges  of  various  sorts  they  possess,  —  fourteen 
are  Sarrakholais.  On  the  other  hand,  not  a  man  of 
this  race  is  to  be  found  in  the  ranks  of  the  Spahis,  or 
the  Senegalese  Sharpshooters,  for  the  very  good  reason 
that  the  work  is  very  hard,  and  the  pay  very  small." 

According  to  Colonel  Frey,  the  Sarrakholais  people 
formed,  some  centuries  ago,  a  vast  empire  in  the  centre 
of  the  Soudan, ^an  empire,  the  remains  of  which  are 
still  scattered  over  the  African  Continent,  under  the 
names  of  Soninkes,  Markankes,  and  Sarrakholais.    They 


24  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS    OF 

are  found  on  both  the  right  and  left  banks  of  the 
Senegal.  We  have  given  this  quotation  in  extenso, 
as  being  the  most  complete  refutation  of  the  popular 
error  that  the  Black  of  Senegal  owes  what  civiUsation 
he  has  to  the  White  man. 

The  Civilisation  of  the  White  Man  has  no 
Effect  upon  the  Character  of  the  Black.  In  1 885-86, 
the  most  intelligent  native  race,  the  Sarrakholais,  though 
then  enjoying  a  high  degree  of  material  prosperity,  —a 
prosperity  which  they  owed  in  great  part  to  contact 
with  European  civilisation, — rose  like  one  man,  and 
attacked  the  rear  of  the  small  French  column  which 
was  fighting  in  the  Upper  Soudan  against  Samory.  * 
Foremost,  amongst  those  who  thus  revolted,  were  the 
old  lapiois,  and  the  clerks  of  the  merchants  of  Saint 
Louis.  Perhaps  one  reason  was,  that  this  race  knows 
what  an  aversion  the  Toubab  has  for  slavery,  that 
great   curse   of  Africa;    and   the  Sarrakholais,  though 

*  This  Negro  has  been  styled  "The  Black  Napoleon  of  the 
French  Soudan."  He  is  the  bitter  enemy  of  Colonial  France.  For 
relentless  energy  and  great  ability  he  may  be  fitly  compared  to  the 
Algerian  Arab,  'Abd-ul-Kader.  Like  most  of  the  native  chiefs  who 
have  played  an  important  role  in  Africa,  Samory's  begitmings  were 
very  humble.  Son  of  a  caravan-leader,  during  his  absence  on  a  journey, 
his  mother  was  kidnapped  and  carried  away  into  slavery.  Samory  on 
hearing  of  this,  did  not  hesitate  to  seek  out  the  powerful  chief  who 
had  abducted  her  and  demand  her  freedom.  This  chanced  to  be  the 
turning-point  in  his  destiny,  for  the  chief  pleased  with  his  handsome 
aspect,  engaged  him  for  his  service.  The  rest  of  his  career  nurtured 
by  ambition  and  fostered  by  blood  and  fire,  forms  one  of  the  most 
extraordinary  pages  in  the  history  of  the  Soudan.  His  army  is  said  to 
number  60,000  men,  of  which  5,000  are  mounted.  Many  times  has 
his  death  been  reported,  and  as  many  times  the  report  proved  false  by 
his  sudden  resurrection.  Like  his  famous  Corsican  prototype,  the 
treaties  made  with  his  adversaries  have  been  ruthlessly  broken  in 
subservience  to  a  tireless  ambition. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  25 

they  had  lived  amongst  the  Whites,  are  great  slave 
dealers.  The  fanaticism  of  the  Mussulman  had  also  a 
great  deal  to  do  with  the  hate  they  felt  for  the  Christian 
White  man. 

The  anatomical  description  of  the  Sarrakholais  I 
shall  give  in  the  chapter  relating  to  the  organs  of 
generation  of  the  black  races. 

The  Kassonkes  are  another  race  of  Semitic  origin, 
but  greatly  bastardised  by  crossing  with  the  native 
Blacks.  The  Kassonkes,  or  Kassonkais,  are  tall  fine 
men,  as  strong  and  robust  as  the  Wolofs,  but  that  is 
the  only  trait  they  have  in  common,  for  they  are  very 
lazy.  They  inhabit  Natiogo,  Kosso,  and  Soyo,  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  Upper  Senegal.  The  costume  of  the 
men  is  rather  original,  and  deserves  a  special  mention. 
For  head-dress,  they  have  a  sort  of  small  cap  with 
two  pointed  peaks,  which  they  wear  on  the  side  of  the 
head,  like  a  French  soldier's  kepi.  They  w^ear  wide 
trousers,  like  a  Zouave,  but  shorter  and  fuller.  Their 
costume  is  completed  by  a  small  bonbou,  which  comes 
half  way  down  the  leg.  This  dress  is  made  of  native 
stuff,  dyed  yellow  or  brown.  The  women  are  very 
pretty,  whilst  they  are  young,  but  they  tattoo  their  lips 
and  gums  a  violet  colour,  with  tincture  of  indigo. 

The  Kassonke  is  far  from  being  as  brave  as  the 
Sarrakholais.  He  is  generally  a  thief,  an  idler,  and  a 
drunkard.  In  this  latter  capacity  he  does  not  admire 
a  religion  of  which  one  of  the  leading  precepts  enjoins 
abstention  from  fermented  liquors.  In  this  also  he 
differs  from  the  Sarrakholais,  who  is  a  strict  observer 
of  the  law.  Though  he  is  not  brave,  he  is  very  fond 
of  war,  or  rather  pillage,  which  is  the  natural  attendant 
of  war  amongst  all  these  people,  but  .should  he  encounter 


26  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF 

any  serious  resistance  he  will  fly  without  feeling  any 
shame.  He  is  especially  fond  of  stealing  women  and 
children,  who  may  be  heedlessly  wandering  round  the 
villages,  and  selling  them  as  slaves.  Even  an  adult 
native  man,  travelling  alone  and  unarmed,  is  by  no 
means  safe,  and  runs  a  great  risK  of  being  set  on  by 
two  or  three  scoundrels,  bound,  and  carried  to  the 
next  village  to  be  sold  as  a  slave.  But  the  Kassonke 
has  a  great  respect  for  the  White  man,  of  whom  he 
has  a  most  salutary  dread.  He  has  not,  as  the  Wolof 
and  Toucouleur  have,  the  bitter  and  vindictive  hate  of 
the  Mussulman  for  the  Christian  dog, — a  feeling  which 
caused  the  Sarrakholais  to  revolt  during  a  time  of 
peace  and  prosperity.  Round  Medina,  in  the  heart  of 
the  Kassonke  country,  Islamism  has  made  some  few 
converts,  but  they  are  not  very  fervent,  and  the  religion 
rather  tends  to  decline  than  increase.  The  marabouts' 
school  is  hardly  attended  by  any  but  the  children  of 
the  Wolof  traders,  who  are  established  in  considerable 
numbers  at  this  post,  on  account  of  the  commerce  with 
the  upper  part  of  the  river. 

The  Young  Kassonke  Girl.  A  very  pretty  de- 
scription of  the  young  Kassonke  girl  is  given  in  Loti's 
charming  romance,  which  has  already  been  quoted.  * 

"  Fatou-Gaye  had  on  her  feet  pretty  little  leather 
sandals,  kept  on  by  straps,  which  passed  between  the 
big  and  second  toes,  like  the  ancient  rothumae.  She 
wore  the  scanty  and  clinging  drawers, — a  fashion 
which  the  Egyptian  women  of  the  time  of  Pharaoh 
had  bequeathed  to  the  Nubian  women.  Over  that  was 
a  boiibou,  a  large  square  of  muslin  with  a  hole  through 
which  to  pass  the  head,  and  which  fell,  like  a  peplum, 

*  Roman  d'un   Spahi. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  27 

a  little  lower  than  the  knees.  Her  ornaments  were 
composed  of  heavy  rings  of  silver,  rivetted  round  the 
wrists  and  ankles,  and  necklaces  of  the  fragrant 
soumar^. 

"  She  looked  very  pretty,  did  Fatou-Gaye,  with  her 
high  barbaric  head-dress,  which  gave  her  the  aspect 
of  a  Hindoo  goddess  dressed  up  for  a  religious  festival. 
She  had  not  the  flat  nose  and  thick  lips  of  some  of 
the  African  tribes,  and  which,  in  France,  we  are  in 
the  habit  of  considering  as  the  type  of  the  black  race. 
She  was  of  the  pure  type  of  the  Kassonke  race;  a 
small  nose,  fine  and  straight,  with  thin  nostrils,  slightly 
pinched  in  and  quivering,  a  well-formed,  pretty  mouth 
with  splendid  teeth;  and,  above  all,  large  wide  eyes 
like  blue  enamel,  which  sparkled,  according  to  her 
mood,  sometimes  with  a  strange  gravity,  sometimes 
with  a  mysterious  mischief" 

The  Malinkds  and  Bambaras  are  Negroes  who 
are  fetish  worshippers,  descendants, — according  to  Dr. 
Colomb  * — of  the  Mandingo  race,  which  came  originally 
from  the  banks  of  the  Niger.  It  has  not  been  mixed 
by  crossings,  and  is  characterised  by  thick  lips,  a  very 
flat  nose,  woolly  hair,  and  a  narrow  facial  angle.  The 
Malinkes  are  found  on  the  banks  of  the  Niger,  and 
the  higher  branches  of  the  Upper  Senegal,  where  they 
form  the  major  part  of  the  population. 

The  Bambaras  are  principally  established  upon  the 
right  bank  of  the  Niger.  They  have  the  same  anthro- 
pological characteristics  as  the  Malinkes,  but  are  more 
thick-set    and  not  so  tall ;  the  calves  of  their  legs  are 

'  Notice  sur  les  Oasis  dii  Sahara  et  les  grandes  routes  qui  y 
conduisent.  (Nouvelles  Annales  des  Voyages,  Juillet,  i860)  par  Lieut. - 
Colonel  de  Colomb. 


28  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

more  muscular  than  those  of  the  other  Blacks.  They 
are  intelligent,  strong,  and  brave,  and  are  hated,  and 
incessantly  attacked,  by  the  Mussulman  people  who 
surround  them. 

The  Malinke  is  thinner,  less  robust,  and  much  less 
brave  than  the  Bambara.  According  to  Colonel  Frey, 
the  Malinke,  either  owing  to  superstitious  terror  or  to 
cowardice,  will  not  travel  at  night,  or,  at  least,  unless 
he  is  compelled  to  by  force  of  circumstances;  for 
though  in  the  daytime  he  can  rely  on  his  weapons, 
and  his  agility,  to  bring  him  safely  through  perils,  in 
the  dark  he  is  exposed  to  a  thousand  dangers  he 
cannot  always  avoid.  After  sunset  his  sight  becomes 
considerably  weaker ;  it  might  almost  be  said  that  he 
is  struck  with  blindness.  This  peculiarity  of  the  Malinke 
is  attributed  to  the  immoderate  use  of  alio,  the  dried 
leaf  of  the  boabab  tree,  and  to  the  very  small  quantity 
of  salt  which  he  consumes. 

The  Senegalese  Sharpshooter  is  a  volunteer, 
recruited,  for  a  certain  wage,  from  amongst  all  the 
races  of  Senegal.  The  Government  is  not  particular 
as  to  how  the  men  are  obtained,  provided  that  they 
are  strong  and  healthy.  I  was  surgeon  to  a  battalion 
of  Sharpshooters  at  Saint  Louis,  and  the  captain  of 
the  battalion  assured  me  that  three-fourths  of  the 
Negroes,  who  were  engaged  to  serve  for  three  years 
at  the  various  posts  on  the  river,  from  whence  they 
had  been  sent  to  head-quarters,  were  slaves,  bought 
from  their  masters  at  a  fixed  rate  of  ;^i2  ahead.  By 
the  very  fact  of  his  engagement,  the  Sharpshooter 
becomes  a  free  man,  as  soon  as  he  is  released  from 
military  service. 

By  giving  medical  attendance  to  the  families  of  tlie 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  29 

Sharpshooters,  I  was  able  to  learn  many  details  con- 
cerning their  manners  and  customs.  Colonel  Frey  has 
devoted  several  pages  to  a  description  of  the  modest 
Senegalese  Sharpshooter,  without  whose  aid  it  would 
have  been  impossible  to  conquer  the  Upper  Senegal 
and  the  Soudan. 

"  The  corps  is  formed, "  he  says,  "  of  divers  elements, 
borrowed  from  all  the  different  races  of  Senegambia, 
and  a  practised  eye  can  tell  each  at  a  glance.  The 
Toucouleur  can  be  recognised  by  his  warlike  temper, 
and  his  noisy,  boastful  character;  the  Bambara,  who 
most  usually  has  been  captured  on  the  Niger,  by  his 
robust  limbs  and  his  quiet  temper;  the  Peulh  by  his 
regular  features,  his  thin,  nervous  legs,  and  his  extreme 
agility;  the  Wolof,  who  is  more  civilised  than  the  other 
Blacks,  by  his  mild  temper  and  more  polished  manners. 

"  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  they  are  recruited  from 
such  diverse  elements,  the  Sharpshooters  show  a 
remarkable  esprit  de  corps.  They  are  most  useful 
auxiliaries,  of  great  intrepidity,  and  most  of  them  really 
brave.  The  Sharpshooter  is  the  right  soldier  for 
conquest.  No  one  is  fitter  than  he  to  make  a  forced 
march,  and  execute  the  sudden  attacks  that  a  young 
and  bold  commander  may  conceive  and  execute. 
When  once  he  has  put  on  \\\%  grigris  (leather  amulets), 
in  which,  by  the  way,  he  has  no  great  confidence, 
from  having  seen  fall  under  his  bullets  many  of  his 
enemies  who  were  covered  with  them,  but  which, 
nevertheless,  he  likes  to  wear  as  ornaments;  when  once 
he  is  furnished  with  his  goat-skin,  holding  five  or  six 
quarts  of  water,  and  his  wallet,  containing  a  handful 
of  couscous,  and  a  hundred  and  twenty  cartridges,  his 
officers  may  ask  him  to  march  twenty  hours  at  a  stretch, 
and  he  will  regard  it  as  mere  child's  play." 


30  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

The  Sharpshooter  is  not  always  distinguished  for 
discipline,  especially  if  he  is  commanded  by  officers 
who  have  only  just  arrived  in  the  country,  and  are 
ignorant  of  the  language,  and  the  manners  of  the 
natives,  and  do  not  know  what  to  give,  and  what  to 
refuse,  to  their  men.  Moreover,  as  he  passes  nine 
months  out  of  each  year  in  the  bush,  he  needs  a  firm 
hand,  tempered  with  parental  authority,  or  he  will, 
without  any  scruples,  desert,  and  take  his  arms  and 
baggage  with  him.  Besides,  he  is  a  natural  pillager. 
If  the  men  are  not  carefully  watched,  they  will  despoil 
any  caravan  they  come  across.  The  Sharpshooter  is 
viewed  with  scorn  and  loathing  by  the  traders,  the 
well-to-do  people,  and,  generally  speaking,  by  every 
Mussulman.  For  is  he  not  a  mercenary  in  the  pay  of 
the  Whites,  —  a  turncoat,  and  almost  a  renegade? 

When  it  was  proposed  to  introduce  into  Senegal 
a  law  which  should  make  military  service  obligatory 
on  the  natives,  numerous  protests  were  raised  amongst 
the  Blacks  of  Saint  Louis.  "  We  would  resist  such  a 
law,"  they  cried,  "  even  if  we  should  have  to  revolt 
against  the  French  authority." 


CHAPTER  III. 

Social  condition  and  moral  characteristics  of  the  Negro  race  in 
general. — The  Chiefs  and  Marabouts. — Free  men,  griots,  and 
blacksmiths.— 7Vie  Griot  village  of  Krina. — Slaves. —  The  slaiiery 
question. — Moral  characteristics  of  the  Black.  —  The  Black's  opinion 
of  the  civilised  Touhab. — Karamoko's  carbine. —  Various  customs 
and  superstitions  common  to  the  people  of  Senegal. — Mussulman 
amulets  and  the  fetish  man's  "grigris". 

Social  Condition.  All  the  Negroes — except  the  chiefs 
and  marabouts — may  be  divided  into  three  well-marked 
castes ;  the  free  men,  the  griots,  and  the  slaves.  All 
thes3  peoples  have  chiefs,  Httle  "Kinglets"  of  a  village, 
who  oppress  their  subjects  like  the  tyrants  of  antique 
Greece.  Amongst  the  Mussulman  people,  the  head- 
chief  possesses  both  the  civil  and  religious  power,  and 
is  a  great  marabout,  like  El  Hadj  Omar  Mahmadou 
Lamine,  who  stirred  up  the  Sarrakholais  to  rebel, 
Abdoul-Bou-Ba-Kur  in  the  Fouta-Toro,  and  many  others. 
Beneath  them  they  have  ordinary  marabouts,  priests 
of  the  Mussulman  religion,  who  fight  for  their  faith. 
Some  of  them  give  their  soldiers  grigris,  and  amulets 
against  bullets,  steel,  fire,  etc. 

The  Free  Men  may  be  divided  into  many  cate- 
gories. At  the  head  of  them  comes  the  warrior,  who 
is  a  cultivator  of  the  soil  in  his  leisure  hours.  Below 
these  come  the  industrial  classes,  the  various  trades  of 
which  form  corporations  analogous  to  those  which 
existed  in  France  before  1789.     By  a  singular  custom. 


32  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

which  reminds  one  of  the  castes  of  India,  a  man  may 
only  marry  amongst  famiUes  of  the  same  trade,  and 
this  trade  is  hereditary;  the  son  of  a  blacksmith  is  a 
blacksmith  all  his  life,  even  though  he  may  never 
touch  a  hammer.  I  should  remark  in  passing,  that  one 
profession  often  includes  a  good  number  of  others. 
Thus  the  blacksmith  is  also  a  locksmith,  armourer, 
potter,  and  carpenter,  in  his  spare  moments.  He  is 
even  a  goldsmith  and  jeweller,  and  his  trinkets  are 
not  wanting  in  a  certain  barbaric  elegance.  He  even 
adds  to  these  vocations  that  of  surgeon-sorcerer,  and 
he  it  is  who  circumcises  the  little  boys.  The  trade  of 
weaver  is  generally  exercised  by  the  captives. 

The  Griot.  On  the  same  social  level  as  the  black- 
smith-surgeon-sorcerer is  the  griot  (Dieli-Ke).  He  is 
the  musician,  the  singer  of  praises  of  whoever  will  pay 
him,  the  minstrel  of  the  Middle  Ages.  The  instrument 
he  usually  plays  on,  bears  a  striking  resemblance  to 
the  hurdy-gurdy  of  the  Savoyard,  and  from  it  he  ex- 
tracts some  excruciating  sounds.  The  accordion  is 
also  in  favour  with  him. 

The  free  man  has  a  great  contempt  for  the  griot,  but 
is  afraid  of  him.  He  is  more  intelligent  than  the  common 
run  of  the  natives,  and  "  exploits  "  everybody,  either  by 
singing  the  praises  of  the  generous,  or  by  making 
insulting  songs  about  those  with  whom  he  has  a  quarrel. 

The  griot  goes  to  war  without  any  musket, — like 
the  blacksmith-armourer,— but  with  a  sword,  which, 
however,  he  does  not  use.  He  contents  himself,  during 
the  battle,  with  singing,  and  exciting  the  warriors  to 
kill  each  other.  If  his  side  should  happen  to  be  van- 
quished, he  will,  without  the  least  sense  of  shame, 
change    his    opinion    and    servilely    exalt    the    victor, 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  33 

whom,  before  the  battle,  he  had  been  cursing.  Some 
of  the  griots  often  become  the  counsellors  of  the  most 
powerful  chiefs. 

I  knew,  both  at  Saint  Louis  and  in  the  interior, 
some  griots  of  the  Mussulman  tribes.  None  of  them 
could  resist  the  temptation  of  a  glass  of  good  absinthe, 
or  safigara  (trade  brandy),  if  it  was  offered  on  the 
quiet. 

If  the  griot  sings  during  the  battle,  the  blacksmith 
has  to  repair  the  arms,  manufacture  the  heavy  bullets 
of  wrought  iron,  and  after  the  battle,  as  an  improvised 
surgeon,  cut  off  limbs,  slash  the  flesh  of  the  wounded, 
and  extract  the  bullets.  No  European  would  be  able 
to  survive  the  often  terrible  mutilations  which  result 
from  this  not  very  conservative  style  of  surgery.  I 
should  mention  in  passing,  that  the  wife  of  the  black- 
smith circumcises  the  young  girls,  amongst  the  tribes 
who  practise  that  operation,  and  amongst  the  Kas- 
sonkes,  dresses  the  hair  of  the  women,  and  even  of 
the  men.  But  to  return  to  the  griots.  They  only  marry 
amongst  themselves  generally :  and  at  their  death,  are 
not  deemed  worthy  of  a  funeral  ceremony.  They  are 
usually  buried,  with  their  instrument,  in  the  trunk  of 
a  hollow  tree,  which  is  then  closed  up. 

Slaves.  There  are  three  categories  of  captives  or 
slaves.  The  first  includes  the  house  slaves,  who  have 
formed  part,  for  many  generations,  of  the  slaves  of 
the  family,  and  are  born  in  that  position.  They  are 
rather  servants  for  life  than  slaves  properly  so  called. 
They  are  very  rarely  sold,  and  then  only  for  very 
grave  reasons.  In  fact,  they  are  considered  by  custom, 
as  an  integral  part  of  the  family,  like  the  freed-men 
of  old    Rome.     The    second    category  is  composed  of 


34  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

the  slaves  of  the  lougan,  so  named  because  they 
undertake  the  farming  and  other  works.  Usually 
he  has  been  bought  young,  and  has  grown  up 
in  the  house.  He  is  almost  as  much  esteemed  as 
the  house  slave,  and  his  lot  is  not  very  hard.  Then 
comes  the  trade  slave.  He  is  mere  human  merchan- 
dise ;  hardly  nourished,  ill-treated,  often  beaten,  and 
hawked  about  from  one  caravan  to  another.  When  he 
falls  on  the  road,  ill,  or  worn  out,  he  is  allowed  to  die 
on  the  ground  like  a  dog,  and  his  body  becomes  the 
prey  of  the  jackals  and  hyaenas. 

Every  effort  has  been  made  by  the  French  Govern- 
ment to  put  an  end  to  this  horrible  traffic,  but  has 
proved  unavailing,  owing  to  the  conservative  routine, 
and  the  ill  will,  of  the  Negroes  themselves.  I  have 
mentioned  that  the  Sarralkholais,  the  most  intelligent 
race  in  all  Senegal,  furnish  the  greater  part  of  the 
Dioulas,  or  conductors  of  caravans.  The  French  out- 
posts have  orders  to  stop  these  caravans,  but  the 
caravans  escape  surveillance  by  making  long  detours. 
When  the  inhabitants  of  a  village  are  captured,  the 
captors  begin  by  murdering  all  the  males  above  fifteen 
years  old,  and  the  old  women.  The  rest  are  led  away 
into  slavery,  and  often  are  sold  at  an  absurdly  low 
price. 

The  Slavery  Question  is  the  stumbling  block 
which  will  always  prevent  European  civilisation  from 
extending.  We  shall  never  make  the  Black  under- 
stand that  he  has  not  the  right  to  buy  or  sell  his 
fellow  man  in  the  market,  like  cattle.  But  between 
the  fetish  worshipper  of  the  interior  of  Africa,  or  of  the 
Dahomey  coast,  who  cuts  his  captive's  throat,  and  the 
Mohammedan,  who  makes  him  work  hard  it  is  true,  but 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  35 

takes  as  much  care  of  him  as  he  would  of  a  beast  of 
burden,  the  dtetance  is  immense. 

Our  efforts  to  suppress  slavery  have  only  alienated 
from  us  the  good  will  of  the  people,  and  though  the 
public  sale  of  slaves  is  forbidden,  an  almost  open  traffic 
in  flesh  is,  all  the  same,  carried  on  amongst  the  tribes 
of  the  interior.  At  Saint  Louis  even,  where  all  the 
complicated  machinery  of  French  law  exists,  there  are 
found,  in  spite  of  it,  slaves  who  have  been  brought 
from  the  interior  by  the  traders.  They  are  disguised 
under  the  name  of  domestics,  and  are,  in  reality, 
servants  for  life.  There  are  young  girls  of  this  cate- 
gory, who  are  made  over,  before  they  attain  puberty, 
to  "  amateurs "  who  want  virgins.  Of  course,  the 
Black  traders  who  bring  back  these  slaves,  do  not 
openly  boast  of  it,  but  the  fact  is  nevertheless  certain, 
and  I  have  good  proofs  of  it.  For  instance,  in  my 
house,  I  often  used  to  see  a  Negro  boy,  the  colour  of 
old  bronze,  a  half-breed  between  a  Moor  and  a  Negress, 
whom  a  rich  Black  merchant, — my  landlord,  if  you 
please, — -had  brought  with  him  from  the  station  of 
Podor,  when  he  went  to  attend  the  gum  market. 
This  lad,  who  was  completely  naked,  despite  his  thir- 
teen years,  used  to  come  and  help  my  cook  to  wash 
up  the  dishes,  and  his  wages  consisted  of  a  bit  of  sea 
biscuit,  which  he  used  to  devour  with  teeth  as  white 
as  those  of  a  puppy,  with  sometimes  a  lump  of  sugar. 
Although  his  skin  was  lighter  than  that  of  a  Zambo, 
but  not  so  light  as  that  of  a  IMulatto,  the  mucous  sur- 
faces of  the  lips  and  the  gland  were  a  very  dark  red- 
brown.  Seeing  that  I  appeared  interested  a  little  in 
the  creature,  my  landlord  asked  me  one  day  if  I  wanted 
to  buy  him.  I  appeared  to  entertain  the  proposal.  He 
asked    me   twelve   pounds,   saying   that   that   was  the 


36  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS    OF 

value  of  the  cloth  he  had  gfiven  for  him,  and  that  he 
would  only  sell  him  under  the  express  condition  that 
the  lad  was  to  be  circumcised,  and  never  made  a 
Christian. 

The  motives  which  caused  me  to  refuse  this  proposal 
will  be  easily  understood.  Thinking  that  I  wanted  to 
beat  him  down,  he  lowered  the  price,  and  finally  my 
landlord's  son,  a  big  booby  twenty  years  old,  proposed 
to  trade  the  Negro  boy  for  my  central  fire  gun  with 
spare  rifled  barrels,  my  faithful  companion  during 
fifteen  years.  I  kept  my  gun,  and  resolutely  refused 
the  nigger  boy. 

Moral  Characteristics  of  the  Black.  I  shall  only 
say  a  very  few  words  about  those  moral  characteristics 
common  to  all  the  Black  races  of  Senegal. 

The  Black  certainly  differs  more  from  the  White, 
morally,  than  he  does  in  the  colour  of  his  skin. 
Superficial  observers  often  reproach  him  with  his 
idleness,  his  apathy,  his  carelessness,  his  want  of 
forethought.  The  Negro  is  only  a  great  child,  who 
takes  no  care  for  the  future.  When  the  harvest  is 
good,  he  eats  and  drinks,  and  never  troubles  to  put 
any  by  for  the  morrow,  or  even  to  reserve  the  grain 
needed  for  sowing  the  lougans  (cultivated  lands).  If 
the  harvest  should  fail,  he  dies  of  hunger.  But  he  is 
honest  and  upright;  he  is  grateful,  and  remembers 
benefits  received.  He  often  forgets  ill-treatment  even. 
During  an  illness,  which  kept  me  in  bed  a  fortnight, 
my  young  Sarrakholais  boy  helped  himself,  from  a 
sack  of  dollars,  to  all  the  money  needed  for  the  house- 
hold expenses.  He  was  my  factotum :  cook,  groom, 
and  valet.  He  gave  an  account  of  all  the  money 
spent  every  day,  and  took  whatever  money  he  required. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  37 

I  wrote  down,  when  he  was  not  present,  all  the  items 
in  a  small  account  book,  and  when  I  was  well  again, 
verified  the  balance,  which  was  perfectly  correct. 
Only,  the  rascal  had  eaten  nine  pounds  of  sugar  in  a 
very  few  days.  In  Cochin-China,  my  sack  would  have 
been  emptied  by  an  Annamite  boy,  the  first  day  of 
my  illness,  and,  perhaps,  if  I  had  been  alone,  as  I 
was  in  Senegal,  and  had  a  large  sum  of  money  in 
the  house,  the  thief  would  have  poisoned  me,  to  prevent 
unpleasant  disclosures. 

Opinions  of  the  Black  concerning  the  Civilised 
Toubab.  The  Black, — and  I  mean  by  this  not  the 
ignorant  Negro,  but  the  trader,  or  the  Sarrakholais, 
who  has  come  into  contact  with  civilisation  at  Saint 
Louis, — does  not  understand  our  system  of  government 
a  little  bit.  For  him,  the  French  Government  is  the 
husband  of  the  Republic,  who  is  a  very  rich  woman, 
who  rules  France,  which  is  her  property.  As  to  the 
soldiers,  they  are  the  slaves  of  the  Government.  What 
is  the  use  of  explaining  the  parliamentary  system  to 
such  fellows?  The  right  side  of  compulsory  military 
service  they  do  not  understand,  but  the  wrong  side 
of  it  they  can  comprehend  when, — on  the  very 
problematical  chance  of  civilising  a  Negro, — they  see 
the  son  of  a  Normandy  peasant,  or  a  Burgundian 
vine-dresser,  sent  to  die  in  an  unhealthy  country,  or 
be  killed  by  one  of  the  subjects  of  Behanzin,  in 
Dahomey.  The  Senegalese  Sharpshooter,  however, 
knows  something  about  discipline  in  his  own  way, 
and  can  obey  orders,  if  they  are  given  by  a  capable 
officer. 

The  Black  gazes  open-eyed  at  all  the  wonders  of 
civilisation.     At  first  they  are  astonished,  but  that  soon 


38  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS    OF 

wears  off,  and,  strange  to  say,  they  never  try  to  under- 
stand or  explain  anything  they  see.  All  that  they 
say — when  they  say  anything  at  all — is,  "  That's 
another  invention  of  the  Toubab."  The  railway  at 
Senegal,  the  telegraph,  telephone,  rifled  cannon,  the 
dynamite  with  which  the  walls  of  their  tatas  (fortified 
redoubts)  are  blown  down,  etc.,  do  not  cause  a  single 
idea  to  penetrate  their  thick  skulls.  The  son  of  my 
landlord,  the  big  booby  I  have  mentioned,  who  read 
and  spoke  French,  said  to  me  one  day,  when  I  wanted 
to  lend  him  a  handbook  on  Elementary  Physics,  to 
improve  his  mind,  "  The  White  men  are  rich,  and  they 
know,  and  can  do,  a  lot  of  things;  but  everyone  has 
his  turn,  and  the  day  will  come  when  the  Black  man 
will  know  as  much  as  the  Toubab." 

Whatever  amount  of  education  you  may  give  a 
Black,  you  can  no  more  change  his  character  than  you 
can  the  colour  of  his  skin,  and,  as  the  proverb  says, 
"  The  barber  wastes  his  soap,  when  he  tries  to  wash 
a  blackamoor  white."  From  a  moral  point  of  view, 
we  are  committing  a  great  error,  when  we  try  to 
instil  European  ideas  of  civilisation  into  the  brain  of 
the  Negro. 

Karamoko*s  Carbine.  As  we  know,  some  of  the 
sons  of  the  principal  chiefs  were  brought  up  at  Saint 
Louis,  at  the  "School  for  hostages",  founded  by 
Faidherbe.  A^s  soon  as  they  returned  home  again, 
they  invariably  proved  to  be  the  bitterest  enemies  of 
the  Whites.  The  example  of  Karamoko,  the  son  of 
Samory,  who  came  to  Paris,  where  he  was  received 
like  the  son  of  a  king— a  strange  manner  of  showing 
our  superiority!—  is  an  unanswerable  proof  of  the 
failure  of  this  method. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  39 

It  appears  that,  on  his  return,  his  father  sent  an 
escort,  to  welcome  him  on  re-entering  the  Kingdom. 
Karamoko  was  laden  with  gifts  from-  the  French 
Government,  and  amongst  these  was  a  fine  repeating 
rifle,  richly  ornamented.  The  chief  who  commanded 
the  escort,  having  left  the  ranks,  and  presented  himself 
alone  before  the  King's  son,  Karamoko  ordered  him 
to  return  to  his  place  at  once.  The  chief  did  not 
obey  quite  quickly  enough,  so  he  had  a  bullet  through 
his  head  from  Karamoko's  rifle.  In  the  recent  combats 
between  Achinard's  column  and  the  natives  of  the 
Soudan,  Karamoko  always  showed  himself  to  be  our 
most  intractable  enemy,  and  yet  he  had  not,  as  the 
other  chiefs  had,  the  excuse  of  being  ignorant  of  the 
French  military  power.  He  had  heard  hundreds  of 
field  -guns  fired,  at  the  camp  of  Chalons,  and  had  seen 
a  division  of  cavalry  reviewed.  My  opinion,  respecting 
the  character  of  the  Blacks  is  entirely  corroborated  by 
that  of  Dr.  Lota.  ^ 

Various  Customs  and  Superstitions  common 
to  the  Different  Tribes  of  Senegal.  I  do  not  pro- 
pose to  describe  here  the  various  customs  of  the 
numerous  tribes  which  inhabit  Senegal.  I  shall  content 
myself  by  noticing,  in  a  few  lines,  those  manners  and 
superstitions  which  are  common  to  all,  as  the  circum- 
cision of  boys,  the  manner  of  burying  the  dead  with 
the  face  turned  towards  the  East,  the  form  of  saluta- 
tion with  the  hand  over  the  heart,  and  the  Mussulman 
chaplet,  which  is  as  common  as  the  fan  is  in  Spain. 

It  is  evident  that  Islamism,  having  been  imposed  by 
force,  has  taken  no  real  root  amongst  the  tribes  of 
Semitic    origin.     As  to  the  real  fetish  worshipper,  be- 

'  Dr.  Lota,  Deux  arts  entre  le  Senegal  et  le  Niger. 


40  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

longing  to  the  Mandingo  race,  the  religion  of  Mahomet 
has  hardly  been  able  to  penetrate  his  thick  skull,  and 
even,  when  he  is  converted,  he  nevertheless  retains 
his  old  superstitions. 

When  a  Negro  is  ill,  prayers  are  offered  up  to  his  deities, 
but  that  does  not  prevent  his  friends  and  relatives  from 
having  faith  in  the  prayers  and  amulets  of  the  marabouts  ; 
and,  at  the  same  time,  recourse  is  had  to  a  fetish  wizard, 
who  cuts  open  an  unfortunate  fowl,  and  examines  its 
liver,  exactly  as  the  augurs  used  to  do  in  old  Rome. 

Mussulman    Amulets    and    Fetish     "Grigris". 

When  a  Mussulman  is  ill,  verses  of  the  Koran  are 
written  on  specially  prepared  slips  of  wood,  which  are 
then  washed  in  water,  and  the  water  given  to  the 
invalid  to  drink,  or  little  bags  containing  scraps  of 
paper,  on  which  are  inscribed  verses  of  the  Koran,  are 
placed  on  the  seat  of  the  disease.  That  is  a  kind  of 
remedy  that  is  within  the  reach  of  everybody.  As  to 
the  fetish  worshippers,  they  have  a  bhnd  faith  in  the 
grigris,  which  are  sold  to  them  by  sorcerers,  to  pre- 
serve them  from  illness,  poverty,  the  terrible  bullets 
of  the  Toubab,  the  knives  of  their  enemies,  etc.,  or 
charms  to  render  the  possessor  happy  in  his,  or  her, 
domestic  life.  A  severe  wound  will  hardly  serve  to 
undeceive  them,  and  if,  by  chance,  they  escape  from 
a  battle  with  a  few  bruises  or  a  slight  wound,  they 
continue  to  believe  in  their  charm  with  blind  credulity. 
The  sorcerers  who  sell  grigris  are  generally  of  the 
blacksmith  class,  and  in  order  to  astonish  and  impress 
the  people,  they  dress  themselves  in  a  strange  garb 
made  of  strips  of  bark,  wear  a  large  calabash  on  the 
head,  and  wander  about  the  villages  at  night,  uttering 
horrible  howls. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Negro  woman. — Her  social  coiidilion. — Marriage.  —  The  rvife 
purchased  by  the  husband. —  Vanity  of  the  women  who  fetch  high 
prices.  — Marriage  ceremonies. —  Constancy  of  the  Negress. — The 
wives  of  the  Sharpshooters.  —  Their  inconstancy.  —  Their  virtues. — 
Polygamy  atnongst  the  Blacks.  —  The  chief  mistress  of  the  house. 
— -Jealousy  unknown  to  the  Negress.  —  Divorce. 

The  Social  Condition  of  Woman.  Travellers  who 
dash  helter-skelter  through  the  country,  represent  the 
Negro  woman  as  a  kind  of  domestic  animal,  obedient 
and  hard-working,  and  the  property  of  her  husband, 
who  has  purchased  her,  and  may  purchase  several 
other  wives  besides.  To  an  impartial  observer,  however, 
who  studies  matters  closely,  this  custom  of  the  husband 
purchasing  his  wife,  or  wives,  does  not  involve  social 
inferiority  to  the  latter.  When  we  understand  the 
manners  and  customs  of  the  Blacks,  we  see  that  woman 
is  not  in  such  a  miserable  condition  as  is  said,  and 
that,  relatively  at  all  events,  she  enjoys  some  measure 
of  liberty.  Let  us  select  as  an  example  the  household 
of  the  Negro  of  Saint  Louis.  The  husband  brings  in 
the  wood,  cultivates  a  patch  of  land,  fishes,  or  hunts. 
The  native  traders,  who  serve  the  European  merchants, 
ascend  the  river  to  trade.  These  last  form  a  rather 
high  caste,  and  quickly  obtain  a  good  position.  In 
the  interior  of  Senegal,  the  man  goes  where  he  likes, 
but  very  often  squats  on  the  door  sill  and  tells  his 
beads,  if  he  is  a  good  Mussulman ;  sometimes  he 
makes  his  own  clothes, — a  task  which  not  being  very 


41 


42  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

fatiguing  he  reserves  to  himself.  Meanwhile  his  wife 
slaves  at  all  the  heavy  work ;  she  cultivates  the  field, 
gets  in  the  harvest,  looks  after  the  animals,  grinds  at 
the  mill,  and  prepares  the  couscous.  The  operation 
of  grinding  is  very  hard  work,  and  often  the  woman 
is  obliged  to  rise  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  for  she 
has  to  pound  for  many  hours  at  the  coarse  millet, 
which  is  as  large  and  heavy  as  maize.  In  the  afternoon, 
the  work  recommences.  Vain  attempts  have  been 
made  to  introduce  waterpower  mills  to  grind  the  millet, 
but  the  Negroes  have  always  refused  them,  saying  that 
their  wives  would  have  nothing  to  do  if  they  did  not 
grind  at  the  mill. 

In  short,  the  social  condition  of  the  Negress  is  no 
worse  than  that  of  women  in  many  civilised  countries, 
even  including  France,  where,  in  certain  districts,  the 
peasant  women  work  in  the  fields  like  men.  When 
the  Negro  returns  from  war,  or  from  hunting,  or  from 
pillage,  and  does  not  find  everything  in  order  at  home, 
he  complains,  scolds,  or  perhaps  even  thrashes  his  wife 
a  little—  but  is  not  that  also  the  case  in  many  civilised 
countries?  Read  the  Assommoir,  or  La  Terre,  ^  of 
Zola,  and  tell  me  if  our  boasted  civilisation  is  so 
superior  to  that  of  the  "  poor  Negro"  !  The  Negroes, 
both  men  and  women,  are  very  fond  of  their  children, 
seldom  scold  them,  and  hardly  ever  beat  them.  Of 
how  many  parents  in  civilised  Europe  can  the  same 
be  said? 

'  These  books  were  translated  mto  English  by  Vizetelly,  who  got 
1 8  months  "  hard  "  for  it.  He  was  70  years  of  age  !  A  book  was  published 
with  the  title  ''  Extracts  principally  from  English  Classics:  shouing 
that  the  Legal  Suppression  of  M.  Zola's  novels  would  Logically 
involve  the  Bowdlerising  of  some  of  the  Greatest  Works  in  English 
Literature  (Lond.,  1888).  For  more  particulars  about  this  crapulous 
business  see   Curious  Bypaths  of  History  (Paris,    1897). 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  43 

Marriage  amongst  the  Blacks. — Purchase  of  the 
Wife  by  the  Husband.  Amongst  all  the  Blacks, 
Mussulman  as  well  as  fetish  worshippers,  the  husband 
buys  his  wife;  that  is  an  incontestable  fact — but  are 
the  Annamites,  or  many  nations  more  civilised  still, 
any  better?  '  In  any  case  the  girl  herself  is  not 
allowed  to  have  a  voice  in  the  matter.  It  is  simply 
a  matter  of  business  between  her  future  husband  and 
her  parents.  The  marriage  portion  is  haggled  over; 
— it  varies  according  to  the  position  of  the  two  parties, 
and  at  Saint  Louis  consists  of  rolls  of  cloth,  cattle,  and 

'  Westermarck,  in  his  History  of  Human  Marriage  (p.  143),  Lond. 
1894.  writes:  "There  are,  however,  even  in  savage  life,  circumstances 
which  compel  certain  persons  to  live  unmarried  for  a  longer  or  shorter 
time.  When  a  wife  has  to  be  bought,  a  man  must  of  course  have 
some  fortune  before  he  is  able  to  marry.  Thus,  as  regards  the  Zulus, 
Mr.  Eyles  writes  to  me  that  '  young  men  who  are  without  cattle  have 
often  to  wait  many  years  before  getting  married '  {see  Weber,  Z-wei 
Jahre  in  Africa,  vol.  II,  p.  216  [Kafirs]).  When  Major-General  Campbell 
asked  some  of  the  Kandhs  why  they  remained  single,  they  replied  that 
they  did  so  because  wives  were  too  exp'ensive  (Campbell,  The  Wild 
Tribes  of  Khondistan).  Among  the  Munda  Kols  and  Hos,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  high  prices  of  brides,  are  to  be  found  'what  are  probably 
not  known  to  exist  in  other  parts  of  India,  respectable  elderly  maidens' 
(Watson  and  Kaye,  vol.  I,  no.  18).  In  the  New  Britain  Group,  too, 
according  to-  Mr.  Romilly,  the  purchase  sum  is  never  fixed  at  too  low 
a  price,  hence  '  it  constantly  happens  that  the  intended  husband  is 
middle-aged  before  he  can  marry. '  (Romilly,  Proceed.  Royal  Geog. 
Sac.  N.S.,  vol.  IX,  p.  8).  Similar  statements  are  made  in  a  good  many 
books  of  travels.  " 

The  customs  of  these  savage  tribes  are  the  opposite  of  those  of 
modern  f^rance,  where  wives  buy  their  husbands,  and  where  beautiful 
women,  often  neglected  by  the  dowry  hv.nter,  bcCause  their  purse  is  not 
of  sufficient  bulk,  fall  to  a  workman  or  waiter.  Benj.  Disraeli  was  of 
opinion  that  the  mariage  de  convenance  more  often  turned  out  well  than 
the  marriage  for  Love,  the  latter  article  having  the  habit  of  "  flying  out ", 
according  to  the  old  English  proverb,  "  at  the  window,  when  Poverty  comes 
in  at  the  door ". 


44  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

sometimes  money ;  in  the  interior,  it  is  one  or  two 
slaves.  An  instalment  is  all  that  is  necessary;  a 
promise  to  pay  the  balance  after  the  marriage  ceremony 
is  generally  accepted  by  the  parents  of  the  bride.  In 
the  interior,  amongst  the  Kassonkes,  a  young  girl  may 
be  even  "booked  in  advance",  and  a  "retaining  fee" 
paid;  this  is  faithfully  returned,  if,  when  she  is  of 
nubile  age,  her  parents  do  not  wish  to  complete  the 
marriage,  but  if  it  is  the  young  man  who  refuses,  he 
loses  the  money  he  has  paid.  There  is  one  really 
valid  cause  for  breaking  the  contract,  and  that  is 
immoral  conduct  on  the  part  of  the  girl ;  otherwise, 
as  soon  as  she  is  nubile,  or  at  about  the  age  of  twelve 
years,  she  is  sent  to  her  future  husband.  This  custom 
of  marriage,  or  rather  of  betrothal  by  mutual  consent 
of  the  interested  parties,  also  exists  in  the  Negro  villages 
of  the  Wolofs  round  Saint  Louis. 

Conceit  of  those  Negro  Women  for  w^hom 
Large  Prices  are  paid.  The  Negress  does  not  con- 
sider it  a  dishonour,  that  she  has  been  purchased  from 
her  father.  On  the  contrary,  she  boasts  of  the  high 
price  that  has  been  paid  for  her.  I  heard  of  a  very 
neat  reply  made  by  one  of  them  on  this  subject.  A 
European  family  made  the  voyage  out  with  me.  The 
husband  was  a  Government  official,  and,  from  motives 
of  economy,  lodged  in  a  little  brick  house  in  the  North 
part  of  the  town  near  the  Mosque.  His  wife,  a  good- 
natured  inquisitive  little  Frenchwoman,  became  acquaint- 
ed with  many  of  the  Blacks  in  the  neighbourhood,  and 
had  for  a  servant  a  little  Negro  girl  twelve  years  old. 
One  day  the  sister  of  this  Negress,  a  fine  strapping 
girl  of  sixteen,  came  to  inform  her  sister's  mistress  that 
she  was  about  to  be  married.     She  was  going  to  marry 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  45 

a  trader  in  rather  a  good  position,  and  she  was  recount- 
ing what  handsome  presents  he  had  made  to  her  father. 
The  Frenchwoman  said,  in  a  tone  of  reproach,  "What! 
are  you  not  ashamed  to  boast  that  you  have  been 
bought  and  paid  for,  as  though  you  were  a  beast  of 
burden?"  The  Negress  was  nettled  at  this  remark, 
and  replied,  "  If  my  lover  gave  all  that  for  me,  it 
proves  that  he  loves  me,  and  will  pay  a  high  price  to 
possess  me,  whilst  you,  and  the  other  wives  of  the 
Toubabs,  seem  so  ugly  to  your  men,  that  you  are 
obliged  to  buy  your  husbands,  and,  unless  you  gave 
them  a  large  sum  of  money,  they  would  never  have 
you."  The  allusion  to  the  dot  usually  given  with 
European  women  was  decidedly  neat,  and  the  retort 
was  well  deserved.  ^ 

Marriage  Ceremonies  vary  a  little  amongst  the 
various  tribes,  but  in  general  they  have  rather  the 
character  of  a  festival  than  of  a  religious  ceremony, 
even  amongst  the  Mussulmans.  The  husband  first 
prepares  the  house,  which  is  empty.  On  the  wedding 
day,  the  modest  bride,  covered  with  a  long  thick  veil, 
but   without    a    single   spray   of  orange  blossom — very 

'  Max  Nordau  holds  that  money  matters  should  not  enter  into  the 
sexual  relations  at  all : — 

''  When  material  considerations  enter  no  longer  into  the  contracting 
of  a  marriage,  when  woman  is  free  to  choose  and  is  not  compelled  to 
sell  herself,  when  man  is  obliged  to  compete  for  woman's  favour  with 
his  personality  and  not  with  his  social  position  and  property,  then  the 
institution  of  matrimony  will  become  a  truth  instead  of  the  He  it  is 
now,  the  sacred  and  sublime  spirit  of  Nature  will  bless  every  embrace, 
every  child  will  be  born  surrounded  by  the  love  of  its  parents  as  with 
a  halo,  and  will  receive,  as  its  first  birthday  present,  the  strength  and 
VITALITY  with  which  ever)'  cou})le  which  has  been  united  by  the  attraction 
of  affinity  endows  its  oflspring.  "  Convent  tonal  Lus  of  our  Civilisation^ 
Lond.   1895  (page  307). 


46  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

different  from  the  European  bride — is  taken  by  a  matron 
to  the  conjugul  domicile.  All  the  female  friends  of 
the  family  make  a  procession,  carrying  on  their  heads 
the  wedding  presents,  which  consist  of  household  uten- 
sils, such  as  screens,  baskets,  a  mortar  and  pestle, 
calabashes  for  couscous,  millet,  earth-nuts,  earthenware 
jars,  etc. 

The  bride  enters  the  house,  accompanied  by  the 
matron,  whose  duty  it  is  to  initiate  her  into  the  sweet 
delights  of  love,  and  meanwhile  the  tam-tams  outside 
beat  with  redoubled  vigour.  Men  are  strictly  forbidden 
to  enter  the  house,  but  the  women  of  the  village  come 
in  turn  to  visit  the  bride,  give  her  advice,  and  felici- 
tations. She  stands,  covered  with  her  veil,  and  listens 
to  all  her  friends  have  to  say.  Outside  the  tam-cams 
beat  wildly,  and  the  griots  sing  the  future  exploits  of 
the  husband,  and  how  great  he  is  to  be.  At  last  the 
husband  enters  the  house,  turns  out  the  women,  locks 

the    door,    tears    off  the  bride's  veil,  and  then but 

the  reader  must  guess  the  rest. 

As  soon  as  he  enters  the  house,  the  noise  increases, 
the  tam-tams  nearly  split,  the  old  flintlock  muskets, 
charged  with  whole  handfuls  of  powder,  go  off  like 
field  guns,  the  women  clap  their  hands  in  frenzy,  sing 
wedding  odes,  and  dance  round  the  house  like  bac- 
chantes. The  cries  and  groans  of  the  bride  are 
drowned  in  this  infernal  hubbub,  but  it  does  not,  I 
have  been  assured,  prevent  the  husband  from  doing  his 
duty.  1 

Faithfulness  of  the  Negress.  The  Negress  is 
usually   faithful   to   her   husband,   especially    in  regard 

*  See  Excursus  to  chapter  XII  for  curious  Marriage  Ceremonies  in 
Europe. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  47 

to  the  Toubab,  for  she  is  afraid  of  having  a  Mulatto 
child,  which  would  be  a  living  proof  of  her  fault. 
This  is  particularly  the  case  at  Saint  Louis,  where  it 
is  easier  to  obtain  the  favours  of  a  young  girl  than 
of  a  married  woman.  I  have  often,  for  a  joke,  asked 
some  of  the  women  who  lived  near  me,  and  with 
whom  I  was  in  the  habit  of  talking  freely,  to  sleep 
with  me.  ''Allah  terref"  (God  would  slay  me)  they 
always  cried,  and  rushed  precipitately  into  their  houses. 
The  Europeans  who  will  not,  or  cannot,  get  a 
woman  or  "  maid  of  all  work  ",  have  no  resource  but 
the  low  class  prostitutes, — regular  old  "jacks",  who 
are  scorned  and  despised  by  all  the  rest  of  the 
population. 

The  Wives  of  the  Sharpshooters.  The  first  thing 
a  Sharpshooter  does,  is  to  try  to  get  together  a  few 
pence,  and  buy  a  wife,  but  he  has  some  difficulty  in 
effecting  this  at  Saint  Louis,  where  he  is  not  in  the 
odour  of  sanctity,  and  is  looked  down  upon  with  disgust 
by  the  Wolof  trader,  who  is  a  fanatical  Mussulman. 
Sometimes  he  marries  the  widow  of  a  deceased  com- 
rade, but  generally  procures  a  wife  in  the  Roman 
method,  in  the  course  of  one  of  his  expeditions  into 
the  interior.  Captives — the  wives,  or  daughters,  of  the 
vanquished,^ — furnish  the  greater  part  of  the  Sharp- 
shooters' wives.  Colonel  Frey's  book, — to  which  I 
refer  the  reader,— gives  some  interesting  information 
on  this  subject.  At  Saint  Louis.  I  saw  women  who 
came  from  all  parts  of  Senegambia  and  the  Upper 
Soudan.     They  all  lived  comfortably  together. 

Their  Unfaithfulness.  The  wives  of  the  Sharp- 
shooters seemed  to  me  to  be  less  faithful  than  the  other 


48  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

Negresses,  but  that  was  evidently  due  to  their  social 
surroundings.  The  Sharpshooters  at  Saint  Louis  receive 
a  fixed  pay,  and  are  not  fed.  The  bachelors  board 
with  the  married  men,  for  a  consideration,  and  often 
even  sleep  in  the  house.  This  promiscuity  favours 
easy  morals,  and  the  wife  of  a  Sharpshooter  is  regarded 
with  as  much  scorn  by  a  Wolof  Negress  of  Saint  Louis, 
as  a  sutler  woman  would  be  by  the  wife  of  a  banker, 
in  Europe.  ^ 


'  Free  and  easy  as  undoubtedly  is  the  virtue  of  these  native  ladies, 
there  is  many  a  high-born  dame  in  Europe  who  could  give  them  points 
in  what  honest  old  Daniel  Defoe  would  call,  "Conjugal  Lewdness,  or 
Matrimonal  Whoredom  "  (Lond.  1727),  as  the  two  following  works  more 
than  sufficiently  show  : — 

The  Case  of  Impotency  as  debated  in  England  in  that  Remarkable 
trial,  Anno  16 13,  between  Robert,  Earl  of  Essex,  and  Lady  Frances 
Howard,  who  after  eight  years  marriage  commenced  a  suit  against  him 
for  Impotency. — The  Trial  of  Mervjn,  Lord  Audlev,  Earl  of 
Castlehaven,  for  Sodomy  and  a  Rapk.  Anno  163 1.— The  Proceedings 
upon  the  Bill  of  Divorce  between  the  Duke  of  Noxfolk  and  Lady  Mary 
Mordant.  London,  17 15,  2  vols. — The  Case  of  Impotency  debated 
on  the  late-  Famous  Trial  at  Paris  between  the  Marquis  of  Gesores  and 
Mademoiselle  de  Mascranny.   London,    17 14,   2  vols,    i2mo. 

The  Trial  of  the  Hon.  Mks.  Catharine  Neavton,  wife  of  John 
Newton,  Esq.,  and  daughter  of  the  Rt.  Hon.  and  Rev.  Lord  Francis 
Seymour,  at  the  Consistory  Court  of  Doctor's  Commons,  upon  a  Libel 
and  Allegations  charging  her  with  the  Crime  of  Adultery  with  Mr. 
Isham  Baggs,  a  young  Oxonian  ;  Mr.  Brett,  a  Player  at  Bath ; 
Thomas  Cope,  her  Coachman ;  Isaac  Hatheway,  her  Footman ;  John 
Ackland,  of  Fairfield,  Somerset,  and  other  persons,  WITH  all  the 
interesting  scenes,  full,  minutely,  and  circumstantially  dis- 
played concerning  the  whole  of  the  evidence  in  that  very  remarkable 
Trial.  London,  1782.  Frontispiece^  ''Mrs.  A^cwton  bathing  in  the 
River   Trent,  assisted  by  Mr,  Baggs,"  8vo. 

Bear  in  mind  that  these  are  not  erotic  books  produced  in  Belgium, 
or  Holland,  but  sober  English,  home-made  narratives  where  if  nothing 
be  "extenuated",  naught  has  been  "put  down  in  malice". 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  49 

The  Good  Qualities  of  the  Sharpshooter's  Wife. 

Nevertheless  she  possesses  some  remarkably  good 
qualities,  and,  without  her  aid,  the  expeditions  into  the 
interior  would  be  unable  to  operate.  In  fact,  the 
Sharpshooter  will  never  carry  any  baggage,  and  the 
military  authorities  have  never  been  able  to  compel 
him  to  bear  the  "ace  of  diamonds",  or  knapsack, 
carried  by  the  French  footsoldier.  When  he  is  on  an 
expedition,  his  load  consists  of  a  huckaback  bag,  con- 
taining food,  and  a  strip  of  tent  canvas,  worn  across 
the  body  from  left  to  right,  and  in  which  are  placed 
some  packets  of  spare  cartridges.  He  fills  the  two 
cartridge  pouches  he  carries  in  front,  and  puts  the 
rest  of  his  ammunition  into  a  cartridge  bag  behind 
him.  At  his  side  is  a  goat  skin  filled  with  water. 
His  wife  and  children  follow  him  in  his  expeditions. 
The  linen,  food,  kitchen  utensils,  etc.,  are  all  packed 
in  enormous  round  baskets,  which  the  Negresses  carry 
on  their  heads ;  they  often  carry  more  than  a  hundred 
weight,  and  with  that  burden  the  unlucky  wretches 
follow  the  march.  The  children  go  on  foot ;  the  very 
little  ones  are  carried  astride  their  mothers'  buttocks. 
When  a  halt  is  made,  the  women  build  huts  of  boughs, 
wash  the  linen,  and  cook  couscous.  When  the  hus- 
band is  on  guard,  the  gallants  take  advantage  of  their 
opportunities. 

If  the  wife  of  the  Sharpshooter  is  too  apt  to  open 
her  thighs,  at  all  events  she  is  good-hearted.  Ask 
anything  of  a  Negress,  and  she  will  give  it  if  she 
has  it,  even  if  she  has  to  deprive  herself  But  as  soon 
as  she  has  any  claim  on  your  gratitude,  she  will  often 
ask  for  her  "Sunday".'  Happily  she  is  satisfied  with 
very  little,  and  a  very  small  piece  of  money  will  satisfy 

'  Soldiers'  slang;  to  ask  for  a  Sunday  is  to  ask  for  a   "tip." 


so  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

her.  The  Negro  has  an  innate  weakness  for  presents, 
and,  whether  he  is  rich  or  poor,  a  small  gift  will  always 
afford  him  pleasure. 

Polygamy  exists  amongst  all  the  Blacks,  but  the 
poorer  classes  generally  content  themselves  with  one 
wife.  The  rich  traders  of  Saint  Louis  have  as  many 
as  six,  one  for  each  day  of  the  week,  except  the 
Sunday,  when  they  rest.  ^  Only  the  marabouts  and 
the  great  chiefs  may  have  an  almost  unlimited  number 
of  wives,  but  I  am  bound  in  duty  to  say  that  they 
never  abuse  the  privilege. 

Man's  right  to  possess  a  number  of  women  has  often 

'  In  David's  time  people  held  far  freer  ideas  about  women  than  we  do  to- 
day, e.g.  it  was  thought  right  for  them  to  possess  numerous  wives  and  to 
have  carnal  connections  with  other  women  besides.  According  to  Samuel 
(book  II,  3rd  chap.,  2 — 3)  six  sons  were  bom  in  Hebron  by  six  differ- 
ent mothers  to  the  Israelite  king.  Again  in  chap.  V,  verse  13  it  is 
said:  "And  David  took  him  fnore  concubines  and  wives  out  of  Jeru- 
salem, after  he  was  come  from  Hebron;"  and  yet  it  is  said  (in  I  Kings 
XV,  5)  that  "David  did  that  which  7eias  right  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord, 
and  turned  not  aside  from  anything  that  he  commanded  him  all  the 
days  of  his  life,  save  only  in  the  matter  of  Uriah  the  Hittite." 
Probably  it  was  this  which  caused  Dryden  to  write : 

"  When   nature  prompted,  and  no  law  deny'd 
Promiscuous  use  of  concubine  and  bride  ; 
Then  Israel's  monarch,  after  Heaven's  own  heart, 
His  vigorous  warmth  did  variously  impart 
To  wives  and  slaves  ;  and  wide  as  his  command, 
Scattered  his  Maker's  image  through  the  land." 

Absalom  and  Ackitophel. 

Few  people  will  dissent  from  the  shrewd  observations  of  Max 
Nordau  : — "  Man  lives  in  a  state  of  polygamy  in  the  civilised  countries 
in  spite  of  the  monogamy  enforced  by  the  laws  ;  out  of  100,000  men 
there  would  barely  be  one  who  could  affirm  that  he  had  never  had 
fleshly  commerce  with  but  one  single  woman  during  his  whole  life;  and 
if  the  principles  of  monogamy  are  more  strictly  observed  by  women, 
it    is    not    because    thev    have    never    had    any    inclination    to    dis- 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  51 

been  called  in  question;  yet  such  right  after  all  is 
merely  a  question  of  latitude  and  longitude,  of  age 
and  country.  Bigamy  is  severely  punished  in  Europe, 
but  Oriental  countries  regard  sexual  weaknesses  with 
great  leniency,  providing,  of  course,  it  is  not  a  case  of 
adultery. 

Westermarck  in  his  History  of  Human  Marriage 
has  the  following  masterly  summing  up  of  this  fasci- 
nating study: — "Polygyny  was  permitted  by  most  of 
the  ancient  peoples  within  the  historic  period,  and  is 
at  present  permitted  by  several  civilised  nations  and 
by  the  majority  of  savage  tribes.  Yet,  among  not  a 
few  savage  and  barbarous  races  it  is  almost  unknown, 
or  even  prohibited ;  and  almost  everywhere  it  is  confined 
to  the  smaller  part  of  the  people,  the  vast  majority 
being  monogamous.  Moreover,  where  polygyny  occurs, 
it  is  modified,  as  a  rule,  in  two  ways  that  tend  towards 
monogamy:  through  the  higher  position  granted  to 
one  of  the  wives,  generally  the  first  married,  and 
through  the  favour  constantly  shown  by  the  husband 
to  the  wife  he  likes  best.  Among  certain  peoples 
polyandry  occurs,  and,  like  polygyny,  is  modified  in 
a  monogamous  direction,  the  first  husband  usually  being 
the  chief  husband.  Among  the  causes  by  which  the 
forms  of  marriage  are  influenced,  the  numerical  pro- 
portion   between    the    sexes    plays   an  important  part, 

regard  them,  but  because  Conventional  Morality  keeps  a  sharper  look-out 
upon  woman's  conduct  and  punishes  her  lapses  more  severely  than  man's." 
Conventional  Lies,  etc.,  page  30. 

See  much  more  on  this  subject  in  the  Book  of  Exposition  on  the 
"Sensualism  of  the  Koranic  Paradise"  (XXI  to  XLI). 

For  comparison  with  Polyandry  see  the  Excursus  (p.  84)  at  end  of  this 
chapter;  and  also  refer  to  Ch.  Letourneau'S  L' Evolution  du  Maria^e 
et  de  la  Famille  (Paris,   1888). 


52  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

In  some  countries  there  are  more  men  than  women, 
in  others  more  women  than  men.  This  disproportion 
is  due  to  various  causes,  such  as  female  infanticide, 
war,  and  disparity  in  the  number  of  the  sexes  at  birth. 
There  are  facts  which  seem  to  show  that  in  rough 
mountainous  countries  more  boys  are  born  than  girls, 
and  that  consanguineous  marriages  produce  a  con- 
siderable excess  of  male  births.  If  this  be  so,  it  can 
hardly  be  a  mere  coincidence  that  polyandry  occurs 
chiefly  among  mountaineers  and  peoples  who  are 
endogamous  in  a  very  high  degree.  As  for  polygyny, 
there  are  several  reasons  why  a  man  may  desire  to 
possess  more  than  one  wife.  Among  many  peoples 
the  husband  has  to  live  apart  from  his  wife  during 
her  pregnancy,  and  as  long  as  she  suckles  her  child. 
Female  youth  and  beauty  have  for  men  a  powerful 
attraction,  and  among  peoples  at  the  lower  stages  of 
civilisation  women  generally  become  old  much  sooner 
than  in  more  advanced  communities.  The  liking  of 
men  for  variety  is  also  a  potent  factor ;  and  to  have 
many  wives  is  to  have  many  labourers.  The  barren- 
ness of  a  wife  is  another  very  common  reason  for 
the  choice  of  a  new  partner,  as  desire  for  offspring, 
for  various  reasons,  is  universal  in  mankind. 

"  In  a  savage  and  barbarous  state  a  man's  power  and 
wealth  are  proportionate  to  the  number  of  his  offspring. 
Nevertheless,  however  desirable  polygyny  may  be  from 
the  man's  point  of  view,  it  is  prohibited  among  many 
peoples,  and  among  most  of  the  others  it  is  exceptional. 
Where  the  amount  of  female  labour  is  limited,  and  no 
accumulated  property  exists,  it  may  be  very  difficult 
for  a  man  to  keep  a  plurality  of  wives.  Again,  where 
female  labour  is  of  considerable  value,  the  necessity  of 
paying   the   purchase-sum   for  a   wife  is    a   hindrance 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  S3 

to  polygyny,  which  can  be  overcome  only  by  the 
wealthier  men.  Polygyny  implies  a  violation  of  the 
feelings  of  women ;  hence,  where  due  respect  is  paid 
to  these,  monogamy  is  considered  the  only  proper  form 
of  marriage.  The  refined  passion  of  love,  which  depends 
not  only  on  external  attractions,  but  on  sympathy  arising 
from  mental  qualities,  forms  a  lie  between  husband 
and  wife  which  lasts  for  life  ;  and  the  true  monogamous 
instincts,  the  absorbing  passion  for  one,  is  a  powerful 
obstacle  to  polygynous  habits.  It  is  certain  that  poly- 
gyny has  been  less  prevalent  at  the  lowest  stages  of 
civilisation — where  wars  do  not  seriously  disturb  the 
proportion  of  the  sexes ;  where  life  is  chiefly  supported 
by  hunting,  and  female  labour  is  consequently  of  slight 
value ;  where  there  is  no  accumulation  of  wealth  and 
no  distinction  of  class — than  it  is  at  somewhat  higher 
states;  and  it  seems  probable  that  monogamy  prevailed 
almost  exclusively  among  our  earliest  human  ancestors. 
But,  though  civilisation  up  to  a  certain  point  is  favour- 
able to  polygyny,  its  higher  forms  invariably  and 
necessarily  lead  to  monogamy." 

Burton  comes  to  the  following  conclusions  based  on 
the  reasoning  that  the  relations  of  the  sexes  are  all  a 
question  of  climate. 

"The  world  shows  that  while  women  have  more 
philoprogenitiveness,  men  have  more  amativeness; 
otherwise  the  latter  would  not  propose  and  would 
nurse  the  doll  and  baby.  Fact,  however,  in  low-lying 
lands,  like  Persian  Mazanderan  versus  the  Plateau ; 
Indian  Malabar  compared  with  Maratha-land;  California 
as  opposed  to  ITtah  and  especially  Egypt  contrasted 
with  Arabia.  In  these  hot-damp  climates  the  venereal 
requirements  and  reproductive  powers  of  the  female 
greatly  exceed  those  of  the  male;  and  hence  the  disso- 


54  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS  OF 

luteness  of  morals  would  be  phenomenal,  were  it  not 
obviated  by  seclusion,  the  sabre  and  the  revolver.  In 
cold-dry  or  hot-dry  mountainous  lands  the  reverse  is 
the  case;  hence  polygamy  there  prevails,  whilst  the 
low  countries  require  polyandry  in  either  form,  legal 
or  illegal  {i.e.  prostitution),  I  have  discussed  this 
curious  point  of  '  geographical  morality '  (for  all  morality 
is,  like  conscience,  both  geographical  and  chronological), 
a  subject  so  interesting  to  the  lawgiver,  the  student  of 
ethics  and  the  anthropologist,  in  '  The  City  of  the  Saints.' 
But  strange  and  unpleasant  truths  progress  slowly, 
especially  in  England."  * 

The  Head  Mistress  of  the  House  is  always  the 
first  wife  married ;  the  others  are  considered  as  servants, 
which  reminds  one  ot  tne  history  of  Sarah  and  Hagar, 
the  two  wives  of  Abraham.  But  if  there  are  any  quarrels 
or  discord  in  the  house,  amongst  the  women,  the  husband 
will  restore  harmony  by  thrashing  them  all  round,  with 
strict  impartiality.  Any  man  may  take  a  captive  to  wife, 
and  as  long  as  she  is  sterile,  he  may  sell,  or  get  rid 
of  her.  If  she  has  any  children,  she  acquires  legitimate 
rights,  and  becomes  an  integral  part  of  the  family. 

Jealousy    is    unknown    to    the    Negress.     All 

Negresses,  to  whatever  race  they  may  belong,  have 
one  characteristic  in  common,  and  that  is  the  almost 
entire  absence  of  jealousy  in  regard  to  their  lord  and 
master.  This  is  evidently  the  result  of  the  right  of 
the  husband  to  possess  several  wives.  The  same 
Negress,  who  was  boasting  to  Mme  D  . .  .  of  the  high 
price  her  husband  had  paid  to  obtain  her  hand,  came 
some  months  afterwards  to  pay  a  visit,  and  announce 

^Arabian  Nights  (vol.  HI,  page  241)  (BENARES?),    1885. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  S5 

that  she  was  in  an  interesting  condition.  She  had 
also  a  favour  to  ask.  Her  husband  was  about  to  leave 
for  the  Upper  River,  and  needed  some  money  to 
purchase  a  second  wife;  she  had  therefore  come  to 
borrow  two  hundred  francs  for  this  purpose.  The 
money  was  needed  for  a  payment  on  account,  and 
the  marriage  was  to  take  place  before  the  departure 
of  the  trader,  who  on  his  return  would  be  sure  to 
repay  the  loan,  and  complete  the  payment  due  to  the 
parents  of  his  second  wife.  On  hearing  this  very 
naive  request,  little  Mme  D  . .  .  burst  into  a  passion 
and  cried,  "  What !  unhappy  woman,  you  want  to 
borrow  money  for  your  husband  to  buy  another  wife? 
Are  you  not  jealous?"  "Jealous,  what  is  that?"  asked 
the  Negress.  "Why,"  replied  the  White  woman,  "to 
be  the  only  wife,  the  only  mistress  in  your  own  house, 
the  only  one  to  share  your  husband's  bed." 

"Oh,  I  don't  care  about  that,"  answered  the  other 
"  My  husband  is  always  on  me  now,  and  that  is  very 
fatigTaing.  '  When  there  are  two  of  us,  we  shall  each 
have  half  of  the  work.  When  there  are  three,  there 
will  always  be  one  resting,  and  when  there  are  four, 
we  shall  have  almost  nothing  to  do  except  take  care 
of  the  children,  and  we  can  talk,  and  amuse  ourselves. 
Besides,  if  our  husband  beats  us,  we  can  defend  our- 
selves all  the  better." 

If  a  Negress  is  beaten  undeservedly,  by  her  hus- 
band, the  other  wives  wiU  take  her  part.  He  had 
better  not  go  too  far,  if  he  is  in  the  wrong,  for,  in 
her  hands,  the  heavy  pestle  for  grinding  millet  becomes 

*  A  very  curious  storj'  is  that  given  in  No.  XXXVIII  Les  Cent 
NoHvelles  Noiivelles,  where  the  question  of  "marital  fatigue"  plays  an 
important  part.  Fide  also  on  "Flagellation  in  France  "  in  "The  Curious 
Bypaths  joj  History"  (Paris,    1898) 


56  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

a  formidable  weapon.  In  this  case,  the  husband  has 
but  one  alternative;  he  must  either  knuckle  under,  or 
clear  out  of  the  house  as  quickly  as  he  can. 

Divorce.  When  a  woman  is  ill-treated  too  much, 
she  is  free  to  leave  her  husband,  and  even  take 
another,  provided  she  returns  the  sum  paid  for  her. 
This  summary  method  of  divorce,  though  it  does  not 
agree  with  the  ethics  of  civilised  nations,  has  the  great 
advantage  of  rendering  the  relations  between  husband 
and  wife  more  affectionate  than  might  at  first  be 
believed.  Children  do  not  interfere  with  this  amicable 
arrangement,  for  they  follow  the  mother,  and  the  new 
husband  takes  both  hen  and  chickens. 

As  to  the  slave  who  is  a  temporary  mistress,  so 
long  as  she  has  no  children  by  her  master,  she  has 
no  rights.  To  be  kept  as  long  as  she  is  yoimg  and 
pretty,  and  sold  as  soon  as  she  has  ceased  to  please, 
is  her  usual  fate. 


r 

I 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  hymen. — Large  and  small  lips.  — Clitoris. — 77/1?  Jork  and 
the  navel. — A  study  of  the  genital  organs  of  the  Negro  races  of 
Africa. — Marks  of  virginity  in  the  yoimg  girl. —  Circumcision  of 
young  girls. —  The  festival  of  same. — The  nubile  Negress. — 
The  genital  organ  of  the  Negro.  —  The  Perforated  Kabyle 
womayi.  —  Circiancision  the  probable  cause  of  the  size  of  the 
Negro's  penis.  —  The  effect  of  circumcision  on  the  size  of  the  penis 
of  the  pubescent  boy. — Mantegazza  on  the  genital  organs  of  the 
Negroes. — His  opiniofi  o?i  circunicisioii. — The  incotitestable 
advantages  of  this  operation. —  TJie  suppression  of  masturbation 
in  the  circumcised. —  The  festival  of  circujncision  amongst 
Fetish  worshippers. — Kvcursus  by  Dr.  Godard  oti  the  de/loratioti 
of  virgi?is  in  Egypt.  —  Sir  R.  F.  Burton  oti  Dahomeyan  customs. 
— Female  Infanticide. —  Thibetan  nuptial  customs. —  The  Hottentot 
"Apron". — The  perforation  of  the  penis  amongst  Australian 
tribes. 

I  INSERT  here  some  of  the  medical  observations  and 
notes  I  made  at  Guiana,  concerning  the  young  Negresses, 
as  these  observations  agree  perfectly,  or  with  very 
slight  differences,  with  those  made  at  Senegal. 

The  Hymen  exists  in  the  Black  race,  as  it  does 
in  the  White.  But  it  is  much  less  developed,  and 
constitutes  a  much  less  efficacious  barrier  again.st 
copulation,  especially  when  it  is  effected  with  a  penis 
like  that  of  the  White  man,  which  is  not  so  huge  as 
that  of  the  adult  Black.  I  am  speaking  now  of  the 
pure  Black  race.  Amongst  races  of  Semitic  origin, 
like    the    Sarrakholais,    the    hymen    is    more    resisting. 

57 


58  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

According  to  Tardieu,  in  the  French  virgin,  the  hymen 
will  not  admit  the  end  of  the  first  finger.  In  the 
case  of  the  young  Negress,  however,  you  can  generally 
put  in  the  first  finger  without  destroying  the  hymen. 
With  her  the  vulva  is  not  so  open  at  the  upper  part, 
but  hardly  closed,  if  at  all,  in  the  lower  part.  The 
opening  rarely  points  forward,  it  is  rather  obliquely 
downwards. 

Large  and  Small  Lips.  In  the  Negress,  the  small 
lips  assume,  at  an  early  age,  an  immense  development, 
and  considerably  exceed  the  great.  Is  this  caused  by 
repeated  pulling,  or  is  it  a  peculiarity  of  the  race?  I 
cannot  say,  but  this  lengthening  coincides  with  nubility, 
and  amongst  the  fetish  worshippers,  excision  is  the 
general  rule. 

Clitoris.  The  clitoris  of  the  young  Negress  is  very 
much  developed.  After  the  nubile  age  it  increases 
greatly. 

The  Fork  and  the  Navel.  The  projection  of  the 
fork  is  not  so  great  as  in  the  European  woman. 

Operations  on  Female  Sexual  Organs.  Before 
proceeding  to  study  the  customs  relating  to  the 
circumcision  of  girls,  we  think  it  will  be  of  interest 
to  quote  a  few  remarks  by  our  late,  indefatigable 
friend,  Dr.  Ploss  (of  Leipzig),  on  the  operative  treatment 
of  female  sexual  organs  among  different  peoples. 

"Certain  savage  tribes,"  he  writes,  "  are  accustomed 
to  lengthen  and  widen  the  female  pudenda.  In  the 
South-East  of  Africa,  in  the  Wahia  tribe,  near  the 
lake  Nyassa,  it  is  usual  to  artificially  lengthen  the 
clitoris  until  it  attains  the  dhnension  of  a  finger.  An 
artificial  elongation  of  the  labia  has  also  been  observed 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  59 

in  Dahomey  "  ( Vide,  Adams,  Remarks  on  the  country 
East  from  Cafe  Palmas  to  the  Congo  river,  1823,  p. 
15  —  75).  Prince  Max  of  Neuwied  noticed  a  similar 
artificial  deformity  among  the  women  of  the  Mandan 
Indians  in  North  America,  and  mentions  also  the  same 
custom  of  elongation  of  the  labia  pudendi  among  the 
Menitary  and  Crow  Indians,  both  externally  and 
internally.  Similarly  th«  Tribadie  or  Amor  lesbicus, 
among  the  Arabs,  leads  also  to  an  artificial  extension 
of  the  clitoris. 

But  what  is  far  more  important  from  the  anthropo- 
logical point  of  view  is  the  study  of  more  sanguinary 
operations :  the  circumcision  and  infibulation  of  maidens. 
Among  some  nations  both  operations  are  simultaneously 
performed,  in  others  either  of  the  two.  We  will  now 
examine  the  modus  operandi,  the  importance,  the  object 
and  the  results  of  the  operation,  and  the  countries 
where  it  is  most  practised. 

The  Excision  of  the  Clitoris.  This  operation 
consists  in  a  bloody  extirpation  and  uprooting  of  the 
clitoris,  together  with  the  prceputium  clitoridis  and  a 
part  of  the  small  labia,  and  even  sometimes  a  part  of 
the  entry  to  the  vagina. 

This  strange  and  cruel  custom  prevails  in  a  great 
number  of  countries,  not  only  in  Africa,  but  in  many 
other  lands.  It  is  found  among  the  Arabs,  in  Egypt, 
in  Nubia,  in  Abyssinia,  in  Kordofan  and  the  neigh- 
bouring districts  and  among  numerous  tribes  on  the 
East  coast  of  Africa,  as  well  as  among  those  of  the 
West  coast.  It  has  also  been  noticed  in  the  Malay 
Archipelago,  particularly  in  Java,  and  among  the 
Chuncho  and  Campas  Indians  in  Peru. 

It  is  very  difficult  to  trace  the  cause  of  this  custom. 


60  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

Some  are  of  opinion  that  it  is  for  the  purpose  of 
diminishing  sexual  lust  in  the  female.  There  are  others, 
however,  who  pretend  that  in  those  tropical  climates 
the  clitoris  and  labia  often  take  such  undue  develop- 
ment as  to  become  objects  of  repulsion  to  the  male, 
and  consequently  an  obstacle  to  marriage.  According 
to  Mungo  Park,  the  Mandingo  Negroes,  in  West  Africa, 
do  not  attach  any  religious  signification  to  the  operation, 
but  consider  it  useful  and  favourable  to  the  fecundity 
of  the  woman.  This  is  also  the  case  in  the  Malay 
Archipelago,  where  the  development  of  the  pudenda 
is  often  excessive.  The  operation  is  generally  performed 
as  early  as  possible,  but  seldom  later  than  the  eighth 
or  ninth  year.  The  operators  are  women,  who  go 
about  crying :  "  Any  girls  to  be  cut ;  "  the  instrument 
employed  is  simply  a  sharp  knife. 

It  is  usual  in  all  parts  of  Africa,  where  this  custom 
is  practised  for  a  number  of  girls  to  be  circumcised 
together,  and  when  they  are  healed,  which  requires 
about  eight  days,  a  festival  is  held  in  their  honour. 
A  girl  uncircumcised  would  be  repudiated  by  her 
husband,  as  he  could  also  be  by  his  wife  if  he  had 
not  undergone  the  operation. 

Infibulation.— The  Sewing  up  of  Maids.  This 
operation  consisted  principally  in  sewing  up  the  labia, 
or  in  removing  them  by  excision  and  causing  the 
wounded  surfaces  to  heal  together  by  adherence,  leaving 
only  a  small  orifice  free.  It  is  common  among  the 
Gallas,  Somalis  and  Bedschas  above  the  Nile  cataracts 
and  from  there  extends  among  the  inhabitants  of 
Harrar  to  Massowa  on  the  Red  Sea.  The  custom 
seems  to  be  of  very  great  antiquity  and  is  mentioned 
by  the  celebrated  ancient  Arab  doctor  Rhazes,  in  his 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  61 

work    of  len    volumes  dedicated  to  King  Al  Mansur, 
Lib.   V,  c.    69. 

The    object   of  the    operation    is  evidently  to  insure 
the  chastity  of  the  maiden  until  her  marriage,  previous 
to    which   she    has   to    undergo    the    counter-operation. 
When    the    husband   starts   upon    a  journey,  he  often 
submits    his    wife    to  a  new  infibulation  to  make  sure 
that   no   one  shall  trespass  on  his  premises  during  his 
absence.     Slave-dealers    also    employ   that   method    to 
insure    the    value  of  their  merchandise.     According  to 
Brehm    {Reiscskizzen  in  Nord-Ost  Africa,  Jena,    1885, 
Th.  I,  S.  1 69) :  the  Mohammedan  law  requires  circumci- 
sion   only,    but   the    inhabitants    of  the  Sudan  are  not 
satisfied  with  this,  "  sed  etiajii  labiis  minoribus  {Nymphis) 
ahscissis  labia  majora  inde  a    Veneris  fiionte  usque  ad 
vaginam     sanando    ita    copitlant,    ut  fistula    sola    ad 
urinam  fimdendam  pateaf'    (but    also,  the  lesser  lips 
or    nymphae    being   cut    away,    the    greater  lips,  right 
from  the  mons    Veneris  to  the  vagina,  unite  in  process 
of  healing,  so  that  only  a  narrow  pipe  is  left  open  for  the 
discharge   of  the   urine).     When    marriage   is  decided 
upon,  the  future  bridegroom  sends  a  wooden  model  of 
his    priapus    to    the   parents   of  the   young   lady,   and 
according  to  its  dimension  a  corresponding  opening  is 
made.     Cailliaud,  in  his   Travels  on  the    White  Nile  to 
Mero^  and  Senaar,    Paris,    1826,    II,    alluding  to  this 
barbarous  custom,  expresses  himself  as  follows:   "Apres 
avoir   elague  ces  deux  membranes,  les  plaies  de  I'une 
et  de  I'autre  sont  rapprochees,  et  la  patiente  est  tenue 
dans    un    etat    d'immobilite  presque  entiere  jusqu'a  ce 
qu'elles   se  soient  reunics  ensemble  par  agglutination ; 
au    moyen    d'une   canule    tres    mince   on  menage  une 
ouverture,    a     peine    suffisante    pour    les    ecoulements 
naturels.     Quelque    temps   avant   le   mariage,    il    faut 


62  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

detmire  par  incision  cette  adherence  contraire  a  la 
nature."  It  is  usually  not  less  than  twenty  days  before 
marriage  that  the  young  girl  is  submitted  to  this  cruel 
operation  of  opening  out.  When  the  wife  is  about  to 
give  birth  to  a  child  the  opening  has  to  be  enlarged, 
and  after  her  confinement  is  often  sewn  up  again 
(Riippel's  Travels  in  Nubia  and  Kordo/an,  etc., 
Frankfort,   1829,  p.  42).  * 

Circumcision  of  Young  Girls.  This  form  of 
circumcision  is  peculiar  to  those  tribes  that  are  fetish 
worshippers,  and  consists  of  the  excision  of  the  lesser 
lips.  It  is  not  a  religious  ceremony  at  all,  but  simply 
a  matter  of  hygiene.  It  should  be  remarked,  that 
amongst  these  races,  it  is  the  blacksmith-surgeon  who 
circumcises  the  boys,  and  it  is  his  wife  who  circum- 
cises the  girls.  The  instrument  employed  in  both  cases 
is  an  iron  knife,  very  badly  sharpened,  and  more  like 
a  saw  than  a  surgical  instrument.  But  though  the 
operation  is  not  a  religious  ceremony,  it  is  celebrated 
by  a  curious  festival,  which  is  a  kind  of  holiday  for  the 
whole  population  of  the  village.  On  that  day,  everyone 
puts  on  his  best  clothes,  and  all  the  people  meet  on 
the  public  place,  to  the  sound  of  the  griots'  tam-tam. 

The    Festival    of    the    Circumcision    of  Girls. 

Accompanied  by  horrible  music,  consisting  of  tam- 
tams and  other  instruments,  and  the  songs  of  the 
griots,  the  young  girls  who  are  to  be  operated  upon, 
— superbly  dressed,  and  wearing  all  the  family  jewels, 
— make  the  circuit  of  the  village,  and  return  to  the 
public  place,  when  a  ball  immediately  commences,  and 

*  Zeitschrift  fiir  Ethnologic  for   1871. 

See  Dr.  Godard's  article,  in  connection  with  this  subject,  on  the 
defloration  of  virgins,  in  the  Excursus  to  present  chapter. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  63 

lasts  twenty-four  hours.  When  they  are  worn  out 
with  fatigue,  they  are  carried  by  the  old  matrons 
into  the  hut  where  the  circumcision  is  to  take  place. 
The  operation  is  performed  at  daybreak,  when  all  the 
women  of  the  village  go  alone  to  the  hut  of  the 
blacksmith  and  his  wife,  who  has  to  perform  the 
operation.  She  sets  to  work  in  this  manner.  The 
patient  is  seated  on  a  block  of  wood  about  eighteen 
inches  high,  placed  at  a  little  distance  from  the  wall 
of  the  hut.  When  she  sits  she  opens  her  thighs  as 
widely  as  possible ;  the  body  is  bent  back,  and  the 
head,  which  is  held  nearly  horizontal,  touches  the  wall. 
The  arms,  which  are  thrown  back,  lean  on  a  little 
bench,  which  runs  along  the  side  of  the  wall.  In  this 
position,  the  vulva  is  open,  and  the  "little  lips"  project. 
The  woman  squats  down  in  front  of  the  girl,  lays  hold 
of  the  right  lip  with  the  left  hand  and  cuts  if  off  with 
a  sharp  stroke ;  then  she  performs  the  same  operation 
on  the  left  side.  To  stop  the  bleeding,  she  applies  a 
plaster,  the  base  of  which  is  ferruginous  mud  from  the 
smithy,  mixed  with  water  containing  a  little  alum.  This 
plaster  is  not  only  a  styptic,  but  cicatrises  the  wound. 
The  patient  must  remain  in  the  house  a  week.  During 
the  three  or  four  following  weeks,  a  troop  of  girls  may 
be  seen  every  morning,  limping,  with  sticks  in  their 
hands,  to  the  river,  to  perform  their  ablutions.  At 
last  the  bandage  is  taken  off,  and  they  can  play  about 
as  much  as  they  please.  ^ 

The  Nubile  Negress.  The  epithet  vast  may  be 
applied  even  more  fitly  to  the  Negresses  of  Senegal, 
than    to   those   of  Guiana.     On  account  of  the  size  of 

'  Refer  to  notes  by  Sir  Rich.  F.  Burton  on  certain  Customs  of  the 
Dahomeyans  in  the  Excursus  to  this  chapter  ;  nl>o  to  the  Hottentot 
"Apron". 


64  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

the  vulva,  and  the  vagina,  and  the  want  of  nervous 
susceptibility  in  the  Negress,  delivery  is  effected  almost 
without  pain.  In  the  adult  Negress,  the  vulva  is  placed 
very  low,  and  descends  almost  vertically,  as  does  also 
the  vagina,  which  is  much  longer  than  in  the  European 
woman.  There  is  a  very  pronounced  clitoris,  which  is 
often  the  size  of  the  little  finger  of  an  adult.  The 
pubes  is  prominent,  and  is  covered  with  some  stiff  and 
hard  hair.  The  Negresses  shave  themselves  with  the 
neck  of  a  broken  bottle. 

The  Genital  Organ  of  the  Negro.  According  to 
the  usual  law,  to  which  this  is  no  exception,  the  geni- 
tal organ  of  the  male  is  in  proper  proportion,  as  regards 
size,  to  the  dimensions  of  the  female  organ.  In  fact, 
with  the  exception  of  the  Arab,  who  runs  him  very 
close  in  this  respect,  the  Negro  of  Senegal  possesses 
the  largest  genital  organ  of  all  the  races  of  mankind. 
It  is  even  more  developed  than  that  of  the  Negro  of 
Guiana.  While  dealing  with  this  subject,  we  may  be 
permitted  to  cite  the  following  case,  reported  by  a 
brother  officer,  of  perforation  of  the  vagina  of  a  young 
Kabyle  woman  non-nubile,  caused  by  the  sexual  approach 
of  her  husband. 

The  Perforated  Kabyle  Woman. '  On  the  25th 
of  September,  1869,  in  the  village  of  El-Mesloub,  the 
young  Aini-Ntamrant,  of  the  Beni-Raten  tribe,  aged 
twelve  and  married  since  about  thirty  days  to  El 
Haoussin  or  Ali,  a  youth  of  from  15  to  16  years  old, 
died  suddenly. 

Public  rumour,  from  the  very  next  morning,  accused 

'  This  note  was  cotnmuDicated  by  M.  Prosp.  Albert,  medecin  aide- 
major  de  Z''*  classe,  at  the  military  hospital  of  Tizi-Ozou  (Algeria) 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  65 

the  husband  of  having  killed  his  wife  by  premature 
and  forced  conjugal  approach.  The  Amyn  or  judge 
of  the  tribe  thought  it  his  duty  to  have  the  body  sent 
to  the  Bureau  Arabe,  and  we  were  charged  to  pro- 
ceed to  a  post  vwrtein  examination  of  it.  The  follow- 
ing was  the  result. 

The  body  is  that  of  a  quite  young  girl  not  yet 
developed.  She  is  thin,  and  the  mamvice  are  not  yet 
elevated  above  the  surface  of  the  breast,  nor  is  there 
yet  any  hair  on  the  pubis,  which  is  merely  covered 
with  down.  The  vulva  is  but  imperfectly  developed, 
and  the  girl  had  never  been  nubile.  Her  conforma- 
tion and  her  exterior  genital  organs  were  those  of  a 
child.  A  close  examination  showed  that  the  fork  was 
torn  vertically  downwards  for  a  distance  of  three 
tenths  of  an  inch ;  the  rent  extends  through  the  navi- 
cular fossa  into  the  vagina.  There  is  no  trace  of  the 
hymen  left,  but  in  its  place  red  excoriations.  On 
further  examination  the  vagina  was  found  to  be  ex- 
tremely short,  measuring  not  more  than  i^  inch  in  depth, 
and  at  its  inner  extremity  there  was  an  opening 
through  which  the  finger  could  penetrate  right  into 
the  abdomen. 

The  uterus  is  that  of  a  child  and  weighs  only  three 
grammes.  All  these  facts  show  positively  that  Aini- 
Ntamrant  was  quite  unfit  for  marriage,  and  her  hus- 
band must  have  used  the  utmost  violence  to  have 
caused  the  lesions  we  noticed.  The  examination  of  the 
brain  showed  that  death  was  owing  to  intense  cerebral 
congestion. 

We  caused  the  young  husband  of  the  victim  to 
appear  before  us.  Ho  is  a  lad  of  15  or  16  years  old: 
of  middle  height,  well  constituted,  but  thin.  He  has 
no    beard,    and    but    little    hair    on    the    pubis,    which 


66  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS  OF 

besides  is  shaved.  His  genital  organs  are  greatly 
developed  for  his  age.  His  testicles  are  voluminous. 
From  the  tip  of  the  gland  to  its  insertion  in  the 
pubis  the  penis  measures  three  inches  and  one  sixth 
in  length;  its  average  circumference  is  4^  inches. 

Is  it  necessary  to  draw  attention  to  the  enormous 
disproportion  between  the  volume  and  length  of  the 
penis  of  this  young  man,  when  in  a  state  of  erection, 
and  the  opening  of  the  vulva  and  length  of  the  vagina 
of  his  wife. 

From  his  own  admissions  we  gleaned  the  following: 
the  marriage  took  place  a  month  ago,  but  the  first 
conjugal  approaches  were  so  painful  to  her  that  the 
girl  wanted  to  go  back  to  her  mother.  But  he  refused 
to  let  her  do  so,  promising  however,  to  have  patience 
Unfortunately  he  could  not  contain  himself  and  the 
extreme  violence  he  used,  notwithstanding  the  suppli- 
cations of  his  wife,  ruptured  the  vagina,  the  walls  of 
which  we  had  besides  noticed  to  be  very  thin. 

This  unfortunately  is  one  of  the  examples  of  the 
disadvantages  of  the  Koran,  which  omits  to  assign  an 
inferior  limit  of  age  to  marriage  between  young  people.  ' 

Circumcision  the  Probable  Cause  of  the  Size  of 
the  Negro's  Penis.  Without  any  hesitation  I  attribute 
the  size  of  the  penis  to  the  operation  of  circumcision. 
It  is  certain  that  the  removal  of  that  portion  of  the 
skin,  and  the  mucous  surface  of  the  foreskin,  which 
compresses  and  caps  the  gland,  and  often  prevents  it 
coming  out  even  when  in  erection,  interferes  with  the 
free  development  of  the  young  boy's  organ.  We  know 
that   at  the  time  of  puberty,  in  the  European,  consid- 

'  Mcmoires  de  medecine  et  de  chirurgie  militaires.  Paris,  8vo., 
p.    142 — 146. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  67 

erable  changes  in  the  genital-  organ  are  produced  in 
a  few  months.  The  testicles  grow  very  quickly  and 
the  member  develops  rapidly.  But  in  many  young 
people  there  is  complete  phimosis,  owing  to  the  small- 
ness  of  the  free  extremity  of  the  foreskin,  more  especi- 
ally in  those  who  at  the  age  of  puberty  are  not  addicted 
to  masturbation.  It  has  often  occurred  to  me,  in  the 
course  of  my  medical  visits  to  the  barracks,  to  notice 
that  many  of  the  young  French  soldiers  had  the  mem- 
ber of  a  completely  conical  form,  diminishing  gradually 
from  the  root  of  the  gland.  The  foreskin  covered  it 
entirely,  and  the  member  was  skinned  with  difficulty, 
when  it  was  limp,  and  with  more  difficulty  still  when 
it  was  erect.  In  other  cases,  if  an  incomplete  phimosis 
allowed  the  gland  to  partly  come  out,  the  shortness 
of  the  "  bridle  "  of  the  foreskin  curved  the  gland,  and 
prevented  it  from  assuming  its  normal  form  and  posi- 
tion. This  is  phimosis,  which  is  common  enough  in 
all  the  European  races,  and  which  can  only  be  got 
rid  of  by  a  more  or  less  complete  circumcision,  which, 
however,  many  persons  refuse  to  have  done,  unless  it 
is  an  absolute  necessity.  Now  let  us  look  at  the  young 
Negro  of  thirteen  or  fourteen,  who  is  circumcised  at  the 
age  of  puberty.  ' 

The  Effect  of  Circumcision  on  the  Size  of  the 
Penis  of  the  Pubescent  Boy.  A  fairly  large  cush- 
ion of  flesh  and  skin  is  removed,  and  the  retraction 
draws  the  skin  of  the  penis  behind  the  crown  of  the 
gland,  to  the  extent  of  two-fifth  to  four-fifths  of  an 
inch  at  least ;  when  the  penis  afterwards  develops,  the 
gland,    having    nothing    to    check    it,    will    assume   its 

*  See  also  The  Perforation  of  the  Penis  in  Australia^  at  end  of 
chapter. 


68  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

normal  size.  Cicatrisation,  assisted  by  the  healing 
growth  which  repairs  the  loss  of  the  skin  and  mucous 
surface  taken  away,  causes  the  largest  part  of  the 
member  to  correspond  with  the  circular  scar  caused 
by  the  operation.  Although  the  gland  may  be  much 
developed,  its  diameter  still  remains  slightly  inferior 
to  this  part  of  the  penis,  which  on  the  whole  greatly 
resembles  a  large  fish,  with  a  round  head  and  a  short 
tail.  We  can  then  understand  why  the  Negroes  of 
Guiana  call  their  member,  a  fish. 

The  Negro  is  a  real  "  man-stallion " ,  and  nothing 
can  give  a  better  idea  (both  as  to  colour  and  size)  of 
the  organ  of  the  Negro,  when  erect,  than  the  tool  of 
a  little  African  donkey.  The  absence  of  hair  on  the 
pubes — which  the  Negroes  remove, — makes  the  resem- 
blance more  complete.  Nor  is  it  confined  merely  to 
colour  and  size,  for  the  yard  of  the  Negro,  even  when 
in  complete  erection,  is  still  soft  like  that  of  the 
donkey,  and  when  pressed  by  the  hand  feels  (as  I 
have  already  said)  like  a  thick  india-rubber  tube  full 
of  liquid.  Even  when  flabby,  the  Negro's  yard  still 
retains  a  size  and  consistence  that  are  greater  than 
that  of  the  European,  whose  organ  shrivels  up  and 
becomes  soft  and  limp.  The  average  size  of  the  penis 
generally  appeared  to  me  to  be  about  yf  to  8  inches 
in  length,  by  two  inches  in  diameter.  Except  with 
young  lads,  just  arrived  at  the  age  of  puberty,  the 
penis  is  rarely  less  than  6^  inches  in  length  by  if 
inches  in  diameter.  I  took  these  measurements  from 
the  Sharpshooters,  amongst  whom  I  met  specimens  of 
most  of  the  races  of  Senegal  and  the  Upper  Niger. 
I  often  came  across  a  penis  of  Qf  to  lo  inches,  by 
2^  inches,  and  once,  in  a  young  Bambara,  barely 
twenty    years    of   age,    found   a  monstrous  organ   ii| 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  69 

inches   long   by  2.6  inches  in  diameter  at  the  circular 
circumcision  mark. 

Mantegazza's  Opinion  as  to  the  Size  of  the 
Genital  Organs  of  the  Negroes.  I  find  in  Man- 
tegazza '  an  exact  confirmation  of  what  I  have  just 
said.  "  Observations  as  to  the  shape  and  dimensions 
of  the  genital  organs,  in  the  various  races,  are  not  as 
yet  very  numerous;  it  is  proved,  however,  that  the 
Negroes  generally  have  the  virile  member  more  vo- 
luminous than  other  people,  and  I  myself  verified  this 
statement,  during  the  years  in  which  I  practised 
medicine  in  South  America.  The  size  of  the  genital 
parts  in  the  male  corresponds  to  the  huge  dimensions 
of  the  vagina  in  the  Negresses.  Falkenstein  remarked 
that  the  Negroes  of  Loango  had  huge  members,  and 
that  their  wives  reproached  our  men  with  having  such 
small  yards.  He  rejects  the  singular  idea  of  Topinard, 
who  states  that  it  is  only  when  flabby  that  this 
enormous  size  is  noticed,  and  that,  on  the  contrary, 
the  penis  is  reduced  in  size  when  erect.  Falkenstein  ^ 
also  observed  amongst  the  Negresses  of  Loango,  as 
amongst  us,  a  great  difference  as  to  the  beginning  of 
menstruation  in  different  individuals." 

But  I  do  not  agree  with  Mantegazza  when  he 
discusses  the  advantages,  and  disadvantages,  of  circum- 
cision. 

Mantegazza's    Opinion   of  Circumcision.     "  The 

historians    of  the  Jews  have  exaggerated  the  hygienic 

'  Gli  Amort  defrW  -Uomini' 6\  P.iolo  Mantegazza,  Senatore  del  Regno 
(Milan,    1892). 

*  Die  Loango- Kits te  in  72  Original-Photographien  (35  Blatt)  nebst 
erlauterndrm   Text,  Berlin,    1876. 


70  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS    OF 

value  of  circumcision.  It  is  true,  that  circumcised 
persons  are  rather  less  disposed  to  masturbation,  and 
to  venereal  diseases,  but  circumcision  is  above  all  a 
distinctive  mark,  and  a  cruel  mutilation  of  the  protecting 
organ  of  the  gland,  and  destroys  the  pleasure  of 
copulation.  It  is  a  bloody  protest  against  universal 
brotherhood,  and  though  Christ  was  circumcised,  he 
protested  on  the  Cross  against  all  those  marks  and 
symbols  which  divide  and  separate  men.  Dimerbroek 
says,  that  the  foreskin  increases  a  woman's  pleasure 
in  the  ace  of  copulation,  and  that  is  why,  in  the  East, 
women  prefer  uncircumcised  men.  I  should  not  like 
to  affirm  that  this  is  so,  because,  when  the  member  is 
in  erection,  the  circumcised  and  uncircumcised  yard  are 
exactly  alike.  In  any  case  it  would  need  a  woman 
to  resolve  this  difficult  problem,  and  no  one  has  ever 
given  her  opinion  on  the  subject.  I  only  know  that, 
amongst  civilised  people,  circumcision  is  an  absurdity, 
and  though  I  am  by  no  means  an  antisemite,  and  have 
a  great  esteem  for  the  Israelites,  I  say,  and  shall  always 
say,  to  the  Jews :  Do  not  mutilate  yourselves,  and  im- 
print on  your  bodies  this  hateful  mark,  which  distin- 
guishes you  from  other  men.  As  long  as  you  do  so, 
you  can  never  pretend  to  be  our  equals.  For,  from 
the  first  days  of  your  life,  you  yourselves  proclaim,  by 
means  of  the  knife,  that  you  belong  to  a  distinct  race, 
that  will  not  and  cannot  mingle  with  ours." 

For  my  part,  my  opinion  is  radically  opposed 
to  that  of  Mantegazza,  for  reasons  which  I  will  explain 
in  detail. 

The  Incontestable  Advantages  of  Circumcision. 

The  fact  is,  that  circumcision  offers  great  advantages, 
without  any  serious  inconveniences.     The  painful  ope- 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  71 

ration  is  the  principal  objection,  but  when  the  operation 
is  once  done,  the  gland  remains  always  uncovered, 
and,  by  rubbing  against  the  clothes,  the  mucous  sur- 
face dries,  hardens,  and  becomes  tanned.  The  seba- 
ceous glands  of  the  crown  dry  up,  and  their  disagreeable 
secretion  disappears  almost  entirely.  The  general 
sensibility  of  the  organ  is  also  blunted,  and  copulation 
requires  a  long  time  before  emission  takes  place.  But 
if  it  is  longer,  the  result  is  the  same  in  the  end  for 
the  man,  and  the  woman  gets  the  advantage.  I  do 
not  think  there  are  many  women  who  will  contradict 
this  statement. 

The  immense  advantage  which  I  find  in  circumci- 
sion is  the  almost  complete  suppression  of  all  the 
maladies  which  are  brought  on  by  completely  developed 
phimosis,  either  directly  or  indirectly  ;  —balanitis,  prosta- 
titis, phlegmons  of  the  penis,  etc.  A  penis  with  a 
dry  gland,  the  skin  of  which  is  slightly  tanned,  is 
infinitely  less  likely  to  contract  syphilis  than  a  gland 
that  is  capped  by  a  phimosis,  and  has  a  fine  and  delicate 
skin,  and  a  "  bridle  "  that  curbs  it  in.  The  least  scratch 
or  roughness,  in  the  mucous  covering  of  the  vagina, 
will  prove  infectious  to  such  a  member. 

I  hope  that  the  reader  will  be  of  my  opinion,  and 
conclude  that  Mantegazza  is  wrong. 

The  Suppression  of  Masturbation  in  the  Cir- 
cumcised. An  indisputable,  and  not  less  valuable 
advantage  of  circumcision  is,  that  it  almost  completely 
suppresses,  in  the  pubescent  youth,  the  vice  of  mastur- 
bation. In  fact,  I  have  remarked  that  the  Negro  boy, 
who  practises  masturbation  before  he  is  circumcised, 
does  not  practise  it  afterwards.  He  never  experiences 
that    continual  tickling,  which  the  European,  provided 


72  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

(unfortunately  for  him)  with  a  perfect  phimosis,  feels 
to  such  a  degree,  that,  if  he  does  not  take  daily  pre- 
cautions as  to  cleanliness,  the  gland,  surrounded  as  it 
is  by  a  filthy  layer  of  sebaceous  smegma,  remains, — 
as  does  also  the  urinary  meatus, — in  a  state  of  morbid 
irritation. 

The  Arab  and  the  Negro  are  guarded  from  all  that. 
Circumcision  is  of  the  greatest  necessity  to  them,  and 
that  is  why  the  fetish  worshipper,  who  hates  the 
Mussulman,  is,  like  him,  circumcised.  In  the  Negro 
boy  before  puberty,  the  yard,  which  is  nearly  as  large 
as  that  of  the  Hindoo  ("man-hare")  is  provided  with 
a  foreskin,  which  is  very  long  and  prominent.  More- 
over, the  child  learns  at  an  early  age  the  habit  of 
pulling  his  member  by  the  foreskin,  and  this  little 
amusement  being  often  repeated,  the  skin  becomes  still 
longer.  This  habit  is  a  kind  of  tradition  with  them, 
and  these  young  rascals  glory  in  possessingan  abnormally 
long  foreskin,  when  the  day  arrives  for  being  circum- 
cised. Well  may  it  be  said  that  the  spirit  of  emula- 
tion will  take  strange  forms. 

The  Festival  of  Circumcision  amongst  the  Fetish 
Worshippers.  With  the  Mussulman,  circumcision  is 
almost  a  religious  ceremony,  whilst,  as  we  have  seen, 
marriage  is  not.  On  the  other  hand,  amongst  the 
fetish  worshippers,  it  is  a  festival  celebrated  with  great 
rejoicings,  but  devoid  of  any  religious  character.  I 
quote  from  the  author  of  a  very  interesting  book  ' 
a  description  of  the  festival  of  circumcision  in  a  Malinke 
village. 

"We  must  assist  to-day  at  a  great  festival.  To- 
morrow   the    young  lads  of  the  village  of  Makadiam- 

'  Bechet,   Cinq  Annc'es  dans  le  Haut  Soudan. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  73 

bougou  are  to  be  circumcised,  and  the  most  renowned 
musicians  have  come  to  give  their  assistance  at  this 
solemnity.  The  orchestra  is  composed  of  eight  bala- 
fours,  five  koras,  a  score  of  guitars,  flutes,  tambourines, 
and  tam-tams,  and,  in  short,  all  the  musicians  and 
instruments  that  can  be  got  together;  there  are  also 
choruses  of  women  and  young  girls. 

"  Frequent  libations  of  dolo  (millet-beer)  consumed 
during  the  day,  have  much  to  do  with  the  musical  and 
Terpsichorean  excitement,  which  everyone  evinces  whilst 
awaiting  the  beginning  of  the  festival.  The  price  of 
gouro  has  doubled,  and  this  valuable  aphrodisiac  is 
hardly  to  be  found  on  the  market,  such  stores  of  it 
have  been  laid  in  by  the  villagers.  About  three  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon,  we  see  a  large  crowd  making  for  the 
Fort.  These  are  the  young  heroes  of  the  day,  who, 
accompanied  by  the  Griots,  come  in  great  pomp,  to 
salute  the  Commandant,  and  try  to  obtain  presents  from 
him.  The  candidates  for  circumcision  are  about  thirty 
in  number,  and  from  twelve  to  fourteen  years  of  age. 
They  wear  their  best  boubous,  and  are  covered  with 
the  jewels  and  amulets  of  their  respective  families. 
Their  faces  are  radiant;  and  everyone  crowds  round 
them  to  excite  them,  and  encourage  them  to  support 
bravely  the  brutal  operation. 

"  The  chief  Griot,  in  a  hoarse,  wild  voice,  sings :  '  To- 
morrow you  will  be  pure,  to-morrow  you  will  be  men. 
You  can  go  to  war.  The  horsemen  of  Samory  will 
fly  before  you.'  The  women  and  young  girls  repeat 
in  chorus  almost  exactly  the  same  words;  then  the 
Griots  sing  all  together:  'A  Malinke  does  not  fear  to 
shed  his  blood.'  The  young  girls  reply:  'The  sons 
of  the  Malinke  do  not  fear  the  knife.'  The  Griots  : 
'  To-morrow  all  the  women  will  be  satisfied  with  you.' 


74  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS^  OF 

And  during  all  the  festival,  similar  litanies  are  chanted 
in  every  variety  of  tone. 

"  I  will  be  silent  as  to  the  details  sung  concerning 
the  operation  itself.  The  heroes  of  the  day,  each 
armed  with  a  sabre,  come  one  after  the  other,  stamp- 
ing, and  performing  a  war  dance,  which  consists  in 
imitating  cuts  and  thrusts,  and  making  menacing 
gestures  at  an  imaginary  foe;  whilst,  with  a  yet 
unskilful  hand,  they  try  to  turn  the  shining  blade 
above  their  head;  the  movements  of  their  legs  give 
to  their  supple  young  bodies  a  motion  from  left  to 
right,  which  is  exceedingly  graceful.  Then,  in  their 
turn  come  the  women  and  young  girls,  dancing  and 
rolling  their  heads  round  on  their  shoulders  with  such 
vigour  that  the  back  of  the  head  often  touches  the 
spine,  which,  to  the  spectators,  has  a  most  disagree- 
able effect. 

"  The  songs  and  dances  continue  thus  all  the  night, 
but  being  desirous  of  assisting  at  the  ceremony,  which 
takes  place  at  daybreak,  we  only  put  in  an  appearance 
for  about  half  an  hour,  at  the  evening  festivities.  The 
interpreter  told  us  that  the  circumcision  is  performed 
publicly,  and  that,  except  the  women,  anyone  can  assist 
at  it,  that  usually  the  Blacks  did  not  like  the  Whites 
to  be  present,  but  an  exception  would  be  made  in  the 
case  of  the  Commandant,  and  the  officers  ft-om  the 
Fort.  Though  I  had  been  three  years  in  the  country, 
this  was  the  first  time  that  I  had  assisted  at  a  cere- 
mony which  is  very  interesting  in  many  respects.  I 
will  not  speak  here  of  the  really  astonishing  courage 
shown  by  the  children.  The  instrument  used  by  the 
blacksmith-surgeon  was  a  common  iron  knife  of  the 
country,  sharpened  with  a  file,  and  whetted  on  a  flint 
stone :  the  patients  sang,  waved  their  arms,  and  smiled 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  75 

at  the  excited  spectators,  who  fired  off  their  guns  and 
uttered  wild  cries.  When  the  operation  was  finished, 
the  boy  was  seated  on  the  hot  sand  which  was  heaped 
up  round  him  to  his  waist.  He  is  then  shut  up  for  a 
month,  in  a  hut,  which  he  must  not  leave  until  he  is 
completely  cured." 

I    will   complete  this  recital  by  giving  some  details 
of  the  operation  itself. 

These  particulars  I  had  from  one  of  my  colleagues, 
who  witnessed  the  operation.  The  blacksmith-surgeon 
is  provided  with  a  small  plate  of  yellow  copper,  about 
the  tenth  of  an  inch  thick,  with  a  hole  of  about  half 
an  inch  in  diameter  in  it.  He  draws  through  this 
hole  the  lad's  foreskin,  and  with  the  left  hand  pulls  it 
forward,  till  he  gets  the  right  quantity  (which  varies 
according  to  the  length  of  the  foreskin  and  the  thick- 
ness of  the  boy's  yard),  whilst,  with  his  right  hand,  he 
stops  the  point  of  the  gland  from  coming  through. 
He  takes  care  to  pull,  with  the  finger  and  thumb  of 
the  right  hand,  the  skin  of  the  gland  a  little  towards 
the  base  of  the  penis,  whilst  the  foreskin  is  held  in 
its  place.  That  being  done,  he  takes  his  knife,  which 
he  had  held  between  his  teeth,  and  with  a  single 
stroke  cuts  clean  off  that  portion  of  the  foreskin  which 
is  on  the  plate.  Having  removed  the  plate,  the 
blacksmith-surgeon  sucks  with  his  lips  the  blood  which 
comes  out  of  the  wound,  gently  draws  back  the  skin 
of  the  penis  to  uncover  the  gland,  and  washes  the 
wound  with  water  containing  a  resinous  essence 
(probably  an  extract  from  some  kind  of  fir-tree),  which 
hias  the  property  of  stopping  the  flow  of  blood.  The 
foreskin  which  has  been  cut  off  is  wrapped  in  a  bit 
of  rag,  and  used  as  a  wad  for  an  old  gun,  which  is 
charged    like    a    small   cannon,    and   fired    in    the    air, 


76  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

amidst  loud  cries  of  joy.  The  operation  ends,  as  I 
have  ah-eady  said  in  the  case  of  the  girls,  by  daily 
bandaging  the  wound  with  ferruginous  mud,  which  is 
sedative  and  healing. 

EXCURSUS  TO  CHAPTER  IV.* 

Polyandry.  Polyandry  is  met  with  in  many 
different  countries.  It  should  not,  however,  be  con- 
founded with  the  customs  of  certain  warlike  castes, 
devoted  to  celibacy,  whose  wives  are  in  common. 
Such  are  the  Nair  on  the  Malabar  Coast,  ^  in  Southern 
India,  and  the  same  custom  formerly  prevailed  among 
the  Toporague  Cossacks, 

Genuine  polyandry  exists  among  the  Esquimaux, 
the  Aleutians,  the  Koriaks  and  the  Kolouches.  Sir 
John  Lubbock  notices  the  same  custom  among  the 
Iroquois  and  among  several  tribes  on  the  banks  of  the 
Orinoco.  In  the  South  Seas  it  exists  among  the  Masris 
of  New  Zealand  and  in  some  other  of  the  smaller  is- 
lands. ^  In  Southern  India,  in  the  Neilgherry  Hills, 
polyandry  is  an  institution  among  the  Todas,  where 
all  the  brothers  of  the  same  family  become  successively 
the  husband  of  the  wife  of  the  elder  brother,  and,  vice 
versa,  the  younger  sisters  of  the  wife  becoming  the 
wives  of  this  matrimonial  association.  ^  A  somewhat 
similar  institution  existed  among  the  ancient  Britons 
in  the  time  of  Caesar,  '^  as  also,  according  to  Mr.  La- 
gneau,  among  the  Agathyrses  and  the  Liburnea.  Mr. 
Rousselet   relates,    that  on  the  Malabar  Coast,  among 

*  Vide  note  p.   59  ante. 

'  Oscar    Peschel,     Voelkerkunde,     1875.      '  Graul,     Osttndien,  vol.   3. 
'  G.  V.  Kessel,  Ausland,  1872,  No.  37.   *  Waitz,  Anthropologies  vol.  3. 

*  Oscar  Peschel,  ibidem.     *  Baierlein,  Nack  und  Aus  Indien. 
'  De  Bella  gallico,  lib.  V,  cap.  XIV. 


ANTHROPOLOGY,  77 

the  Nair  tribe,  a  young  girl  takes  legally  a  husband, 
that  is  to  say  a  protector,  for  he  never  becomes  a 
husband  de  facto:  this  advantage  is  reserved  to  a 
number  of  younger  men  whom  the  lady  later  on  attaches 
to  her  household. 

In  South  Africa  polyandry  exists  in  the  Herero 
tribe.  1  Samuel  Turner,  in  his  travels,  in  Thibet,  ^ 
saw  that  it  existed  in  certain  parts  of  that  country, 
and  Vigne  ^  also  notices  it  as  prevailing  in  the  Himalaya 
Mountains,  East  of  Simla,  near  Mossouri,  and  even  in 
the  Chitral  district  there  are  traces  of  this  strange 
custom.  •* 

In  another  locality  of  the  Himalayas,  Kooloo,  poly- 
andry exists,  but  sporadically  only,  so  that  in  the  same 
village  polyandry  and  polygamy  may  exist  together. 
Mr.  Lyall,  British  political  agent  in  the  Himalayan 
districts  of  Kooloo,  Lahool  and  Spiti,  ®  relates  that  he 
saw  in  one  Kooloo  house  four  men  with  one  wife; 
next  door,  three  men  with  three  wives  and,  a  little 
further  on,  one  husband  with  four  wives.  These  arrange- 
ments always  depend  upon  the  relative  wealth  of  the 
respective  households.  This  opinion  is  indeed  that  of 
most  of  the  travellers  who  have  visited  these  regions. 
"  I  have  myself,  "  says  Mr.  Ujfalvy,  "  seen  in  the  village 
of  Manglaoor  matrimonial  associations  in  which  four 
or  six  men,  all  brothers,  lived  with  one  wife.  Colonel 
Jenkins,  for  many  years  chief  of  the  Kooloo  district, 
informed  me  that  it  was  not  indispensable  that  these 
men  should  be  brothers." 

*  G.  Fritsche,   Die  Eingeborenen  Siidafrika's. 
'  Samuel  Turner,  Embassy  to  Thibet. 

*  Vigne.  Travels  in  Kashmir,  Ladak  and  Iskardo,    1842. 

*  Biddulph,    The    Tribes  of  the  Hindoo-Kush,  Calcutta,    1 880. 

*  Harcourt,  The  Himalayan  Districts  of  Kooloo,  Lahool  and  Spiti,  1871. 


78  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

In  the  Kooloo  district  there  is  not  much  land  fit  for 
cultivation ;  property  is  therefore  very  limited  and  would 
finally  tend  to  disappear  by  continuous  portioning-  out : 
the  proprietor  would  no  longer  be  able  to  live  on  the 
produce  of  his  land.  In  order  to  obviate  this  incon- 
venience, female  infanticide  is  common  in  these  valleys, 
and  consequently  the  increase  of  the  female  population 
becomes  impossible.  It  was  this  barbarous  custom, 
according  to  Rousselet,  which,  prevailing  in  Rajputana, 
obliged  the  haughty  Rajpoots  to  seek  for  wives  outside 
of  their  own  territory.  The  matrimonial  associations 
in  Kooloo  live  on  the  best  terms  one  with  the  other; 
the  children  issued  from  these  strange  unions  speak  of 
an  elder  and  of  a  younger  father;  and  when  one  of 
the  husbands  perceives  on  the  threshold  of  the  marital 
chamber  the  shoes  of  one  of  his  colleag^ies,  he  knows 
that  he  must  not  enter.  This  custom  is  called  the 
djoutika  tabou.  * 

Female  Infanticide.  With  regard  to  the  dilemma 
in  which  an  otherwise  friendly  critic  wished  to  enclose 
me,  saying :  "  If  really  three  fourths  of  the  women 
become  nuns,  we  do  not  see  why  female  infanticide, 
which  Mr.  Ujfalvy  thinks  is  so  general,  should  be 
practised  at  all.  Either  this  infanticide  is  without  an 
object,  and  is  but  little  practised,  or  the  number  of 
women  is  not  sufiicient  to  people  the  convents,  the 
existence  of  which  is  well  established.^  My  only 
answer  is  that  there  is  not  even  one  woman's  convent 
tn  the  whole  country.  All  the  travellers  who  have 
visited  these  districts  wiU  confirm  me  on  this  point 

In  Ladak  polyandry  also  exists,  but  not  in  quite 
the    same   manner    as   in    Kooloo.     Here  the  women 

'  The  prohibition  of  the  shoe. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  79 

enjoy  a  particular  privilege,  they  have  the  faculty  of 
choosing,  outside  of  the  association  of  brothers  of  whom 
they  are  the  spouse,  a  fifth  or  sixth  supplementary 
husband,  according  to  their  taste. 

But  in  Ladak  polygamy  is  also  to  be  met  with; 
and  it  even  sometimes  happens  that  a  rich  heiress  will 
choose  one  husband  only  and  remain  satisfied  with  him. 

I  have  not  visited  the  Lahool  district  itself,  but  I 
have  been  able  to  obtain  accurate  information  concern- 
ing the  manners  and  customs  of  the  country.  The 
inhabitants  are  Buddhists,  but  their  religion  is  far  less 
pure  than  in  Thibet.  There  are  lamas  and  nuns;  the 
latter,  few  in  number,  reside  but  two  months  of  winter 
yearly  in  their  convent.  The  rest  of  the  time  they 
live  with  their  family,  and  as  they  have  taken  no  vo^w 
of  chastity,  they  can  marry.  They  also  often  marry 
lamas.  It  would  appear  that  the  life  they  lead  during 
their  brief  sojourn  in  the  convent  is  very  far  fi-om  being 
edifying. 

Polyandry  undoubtedly  exists  in  the  Lahool  country, 
and  perhaps  also  in  the  Spiti  districts,  but  documents 
are  wanting  on  the  subject :  however,  one  of  the  Pandits, 
Nain  Singh,  sent  by  colonel  Montgomery  to  explore 
the  southern  slopes  of  the  Eastern  Himalaya,  noted  its 
existence  to  the  North  of  Spiti.  Besides  the  manners 
and  customs  of  Lahool  and  of  Spiti  are  very  similar 
to  those  of  Thibet  proper,  where  polyandry  was  already 
noted  by  Samuel  Turner  at  the  end  of  the  last  century. 
The  reflections  added  by  Turner  to  the  relation  of  his 
travels  are,  besides,  most  instructive.  We  have  our- 
selves been  able  to  notice,  particularly  in  Lahool,  a 
great  degeneracy  of  Buddhism,  intermixed  with  Hindoo- 

'  Samuel  Turner,  An  Account  of  an  Embassy  to  the  Court  of  the  Teshoo 
Lama  in    Thibet,   1800. 


80  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

ism ;    in    proof    of   which    the    almost  absolute  liberty 
enjoyed  by  the  nuns  in  this  country. 

In  Ladak  polyandry  seems  to  have  taken  root  for 
the  same  reasons  as  in  the  Kooloo  district;  in  Ladak 
the  amount  of  available  arable  land  is  still  less  than 
in  Kooloo,  and  the  conditions  of  the  climate  are  such 
that  it  would  be  impossible  to  extend  it.  Schlagintweit  * 
and  Drew  ^  seem  to  be  right  when  they  ascribe  to 
economic  reasons  the  prevalence  of  polyandry  in  Ladak ; 
for  in  Ladak,  more  than  elsewhere,  the  population 
would  die  of  hunger  if,  by  reason  of  regular  succession, 
the  landed  property  should  become  infinitely  subdivided, 
and  all  the  more  so  on  account  of  the  geographical 
isolation  of  the  country.  Drew,  who  was  for  a  long 
time  governor  of  Ladak,  was  never  able  to  obtain 
any  information  concerning  female  infanticide  in  that 
country. 

Drew  seemed  to  think  that  the  small  number  of 
female  births  in  Ladak  was  one  of  the  consequences 
of  polyandry.  It  appears,  however,  that  in  this  country, 
to  prevent  a  too  great  diminution  of  the  population 
polygamic  and  monogamic  marriages  are  now  and 
then  contracted  which  re-establish  the  equilibrium.  It 
is  certain  that  polyandry  has  an  injurious  effect  on  the 
morals  of  the  women ;  for  neither  in  Kooloo  nor  in 
Ladak  can  the  women  pass  for  models  of  conjugal 
fidelity.  In  Kooloo  particularly  they  have  tlie  reputation 
of  being  coquettish  and  fickle. 

At  Leh,  the  capital  of  Ladak,  there  is  a  whole 
quarter  of  the  town  inhabited  by  half-breeds  resulting 
from  the  union  of  Ladak  women  with  foreign  fathers. 
As    for    Kooloo,    travellers  relate  strange  stories.     In 

*  Vide  Schlagintweit,  Indien,  vol.  IT. 
'  Drew,  ibidem. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  81 

fact  we  were  assured  that  the  assistant  commissioner 
of  the  country  had  taken  the  most  stringent  measures 
to  protect  the  Kooloo  husbands.  When  an  EngHsh 
officer  passing  through  the  country  succumbs  to  the 
charms  of  a  Calypso  of  this  country,  the  husbands 
are  required  to  refuse  him  all  means  of  subsistence, 
so  as  to  force  him  to  quit  the  country  as  soon  as 
possible.  I  had  myself  occasion  during  my  journey 
to  meet  with  a  young  officer,  the  victim  of  an  adventure 
of  the  kind,  and  to  whom,  for  reasons  of  humanity,  I 
ceded  some  boxes  of  tinned  provisions. 

However,  at  Kooloo,  these  strange  families  live 
together  on  the  very  best  terms,  without  the  least  signs 
of  jealousy.  It  must  also  be  remembered  that  the 
numerous  temples  in  this  country  are  ministered  by 
young  girls  devoted  to  the  worship  of  Mahaderi,  the 
wife  of  Siva,  and  these  maidens  are  far  from  being 
averse  to  gallant  adventure. 

The  men  work  in  the  fields  or  become  coolies  to 
carry  travellers'  baggage;  the  wife  manages  the 
household  and  looks  after  the  children ;  she  receives 
and  takes  care  of  the  money  earned  by  her  husbands. 
She  is  therefore  the  real  guardian  of  the  property 
earned  by  the  matrimonial  association. 

In  the  discussion  which  followed  the  communication 
of  Mr.  Ujfalvy,  Mr.  Rousselet  made  the  following 
remarks :  "  It  is  evident  that  polyandry  is  a  social 
form  much  spread  about  in  ancient  times  among  the 
wild  peoples  of  Asia.  But  it  is  in  India  that  the 
custom  has  been  best  preserved  up  to  our  days,  and 
traces  of  it  are  to  be  met  with  throughout  the  whole 
of  the  peninsula,  from  the  Himalaya  to  Cape  Comorin. 

"  The  Nair  or  Nagar  tribe  on  the  Malabar  Coast  have 
best    preserved    the    practice    of   polyandry,   of  which 


82  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

traces  are  also  to  be  found  among  some  other  tribes 
of  the  Deccan,  such  us  the  Ramoosis,  and  the  Metars, 
and  also  under  form  of  a  prostitution  consecrated  by 
usage,  as  among  the  Ouled  Nail  in   Algeria. 

"  The  Nair  are  evidently  of  Turanian  origin ;  they 
settled  in  Southern  India  long  before  the  Aryans  and 
imposed  their  domination  on  the  aborigines.  Their 
name  which  signifies  master  conqueror,  is  sufficient  to 
show  that  origin.  After  the  introduction  of  the  Aryan 
influence,  they  refused  to  accept  the  Brahmanic  organi- 
sation, and  were  relegated  among  the  Sudras,  without 
however  losing  all  their  importance. 

"  Although  adopting  the  worship  of  Vishnoo,  they 
have  preserved  their  veneration  for  the  sanguinary 
Marima,  to  whom  they  sacrifice  various  animals,  cocks, 
goats  and  even  oxen,  of  which  they  afterwards  eat  the 
flesh,  contrary  to  the  Brahmanical  precepts. 

"  Their  organisation  is  based  upon  the  principle  of 
what  may  be  called  the  matriarcat,  that  is  to  say  that 
the  woman  holds  the  first  rank. 

"  At  the  age  of  ten  years,  the  young  girl  is  legally 
joined  to  a  man  of  her  caste ;  but  as  soon  as  the  union 
is  consummated,  the  husband  is  dismissed  with  a  slight 
present  to  remunerate  him  for  his  service,  and  hence- 
forward he  is  forbidden  all  connection  with  the  woman 
whom  he  has  so  to  speak  enfranchised.  From  this 
moment  the  Nair  woman  may  go  with  whomsoever 
she  pleases,  but  in  reality  she  does  not  contract  any 
durable  union,  she  can  only  have  more  or  less  passing 
lovers,  and  she  may  choose  them  where  she  likes, 
even  among  strangers.  Nevertheless  custom  imposes 
upon  her  a  sort  of  selection  and,  under  pain  of  losing 
in  consideration,  she  must  choose  her  lovers  among 
men    of    the    highest    castes    or    else    of  particularly 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  83 

vigorous  constitution,  so  as  to  add  to  the  credit  and 
to  the  beauty  of  her  tribe.  But  the  lover  possesses 
no  rights  whatever  in  the  house;  the  authority  always 
belongs  to  the  woman.  The  head  of  the  family  is 
always  the  mother,  and  in  her  absence  the  eldest 
daughter ;  it  is  she  who  administers  the  property  of  her 
brothers  or  of  her  sons;  inheritance  goes  by  collateral 
line,  that  is  to  say  the  nephew  inherits  from  his  uncle ; 
the  supposed  father  can  leave  nothing  to  his  children  ; 
in  the  family  he  has  not  even  any  recognised  title 
and  is  considered  merely  as  a  friend  and  protector. 

"  The  soil  itself  always  belongs  to  the  wife,  head  of 
the  community ;  the  mother  leaves  it  to  her  eldest 
daughter  and  all  the  brothers  cultivate  it  for  the 
benefit  of  the  entire  community;  men  having  no  living 
sister  or  nephews,  and  therefore  having  no  heirs,  get 
themselves  adopted  as  brothers  by  some  woman  outside 
of  their  family.  This  organisation  was  extended  even 
to  royalty,  for  during  a  long  period  the  crown  of 
Travancore  was  transmitted  in  female  descent  only, 
to  the  exclusion  of  the  males. 

"  Among  the  tribes  of  Southern  India  who  still  practise 
polyandry  it  is  necessary  to  note  the  Tir  and  the 
Poliyar,  on  the  Malabar  Coast,  and  in  the  Mysore 
country.  Here,  marriage  exists ;  only  the  brothers  or 
members  of  the  same  family  combine  to  have  one 
wife  in  common,  and  the  estate  passes  undivided  to 
the  children  of  the  community,  who,  on  their  side, 
continue  this  indivision  by  common  unions. 

"  In  the  North-East  of  India,  at  the  foot  of  the  Hi- 
malaya, among  the  mountaineers  of  the  Garros  tribe, 
there  still  exist  traces  of  this  ancient  custom,  although 
polyandry  has  practically  disappeared.  Among  the 
Garros  the  woman  is  still  the  head  of  the  family ;  she 


84  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

administers  the  property  and  transmits  it  directly  to 
her  children.  However,  marriage  mostly  affects  there 
the  form  of  monogamy  or  of  polygamy,  but  it  is  always 
the  daughter  who  seeks  and  chooses  for  herself  her 
husband,  and  it  is  she  who,  on  the  eve  of  her  marriage, 
has  her  favoured  one  carried  off  by  her  friends  and 
brought  to  her  house, 

"  As  in  all  other  polyandric  tribes,  among  the  Garros 
the  son  never  inherits  the  paternal  property,  which 
always  goes  to  the  son  of  his  sister,  but  this  nephew 
inherits  at  the  same  time  from  the  widow  and  is 
obliged  to  take  her  to  wife,  even  should  she  be  the 
mother  of  his  own  wife. 

"  The  polyandric  system  seems  to  be  practised  only 
according  to  the  real  wants  of  the  population.  So 
that,  when  the  number  of  the  population  diminishes,  a 
woman  contents  herself  with  one  husband  only. 

"Another  peculiar  custom  in  Ladak  is  worthy  of 
notice,  that  is  the  retirement  from  social  life  of  the 
parents  after  they  have  attained  a  certain  age.  When 
the  daughter  is  married  and  has  children,  the  father 
and  mother  abandon  their  property  to  her  benefit, 
reserving  to  themselves  only  what  is  strictly  necessary 
for  their  keep.  In  most  cases  each  community  has  a 
little  house  and  field  reserved  for  this  purpose.  When 
two  or  several  fathers  attain  together  the  age  of 
retirement,  they  continue  to  Uve  together." 

N.B.  It  is  but  fair  to  add  that  we  are  indebted  for 
the  preceding  notes  on  Polyandry  to  an  article  on  the 
subject  in  the  Bulletin  de  la  Soct^t^  d' Anthropologie 
for  the  year  1883. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  85 

Dr.  Godard  on  the  Deflovirering  Virgins  in  Egypt.  ^ 

The  Turks  do  not  care  to  marry  a  woman  still  in 
possession  of  her  virginity,  but  such  is  not  the  case 
with  the  Arabs,  the  schismatic  Copts  and  the  Catholics. 
To  them,  as  I  have  already  said,  virginity  is  the  first 
quality  of  woman. 

In  Nubia,  girls  are  married  at  the  age  of  from  eight 
to  ten  years,  but  the  husband  does  not  lie  with  them. 
In  order  to  verify  that  the  girl  is  still  a  virgin,  the 
Nubian  makes  her  sit  upon  a  chair,  one  woman  holds 
the  right  arm,  another  holds  the  left,  two  other  women 
hold  the  thighs  stretched  apart.  The  future  husband 
then  introduces  the  leading  finger  into  the  vagina  to 
assure  himself  that  the  girl  is  a  virgin.  He  then 
keeps  her  for  one  or  two  years  in  his  house,  until 
she  is  about  ten  years  old.  Then,  instead  of  having 
her  incised,  as  in  the  Soudan,  he  himself  dilates  the 
vagina  in  the  following  manner:  he  introduces  first 
one  finger,  and  then  two,  and  repeats  this  mancEuvre 
during  several  days. 

The  rich  husband  is  carried  into  the  nuptial  chamber 
by  his  eunuchs.  There  he  finds  his  bride  enveloped  in  a 
great  veil  which  hides  her  from  his  eyes.  He  says  a 
prayer ;  that  terminated,  he  says  to  her :  "  Thou  art 
my  love,  I  will  give  thee  slaves,  jewels,  and  what 
thou  mayest  desire."  He  then  lifts  her  veil  and  must 
exclaim — "How  beautiful  she  is?"  Then  the  first 
handmaiden  of  the  household  enters  and  makes  the 
bed,  and  then  leaves  the  married  couple  alone.  The 
next  morning  she  re-enters  the  chamber  to  find  beneath 
the  pillow  the  usual  present  from  the  husband,  which 
corresponds  to  the  beauty  he  has  found. 

*  Dr.  Godard,  Observations  medicates  6t'c.  en  Palestine  et  en  Egypte, 
8vo.  Paris,    1867   (p.  85—88). 


86  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

Customs  of  the  Dahomeyans.  I  now  proceed  to 
notice  certain  peculiarities  in  the  Dahomeyan  race, 
which  in  the  usual  phrase,  are  "  unfit  for  the  drawing- 
room  table." 

The  Dahomeyan  is  essentially  a  polygynist ;  and  Dal- 
ziel's  History  is  correct  in  asserting  "  The  Dahomeyan 
women  do  not  admit  the  embraces  of  their  husbands 
during  pregnancy,  nor  at  the  time  of  suckHng,  which 
continues  two  or  three  years,  nor  while  under  the 
catainenia,  during  which  they  retire  to  a  part  of  the 
town  allotted  to  their  reception.  The  prostitutes,  who 
in  this  country  are  licensed  by  royal  autority,  are  also 
obliged  to  confine  themselves  to  a  particular  district, 
and  are  subject  to  an  annual  tax."  The  latter  class, 
called  kdsi  (twenty-wife),  because  the  honorarium  was 
twenty  cowries,  is  supplied  from  the  palace;  and  the 
peculiar  male  and  female  system  which  pervades  the 
court  rendering  eunuchesses  necessary  as  well  as 
eunuchs,  demands  HetcercB  for  the  women  as  well  as 
for  the  male  fighters.  I  was  hardly  prepared  for  this 
amount  of  cynicism  amongst  mere  barbarians ;  although 
in  that  wonderful  book,  the  "Arabian  Nights,"  which 
has  been  degraded  by  Europe  into  mere  Fairy  Tales, 
the  lover  is  always  jealous,  not  of  his  own,  but  of  the 
opposite  sex. 

Another  great  peculiarity  in  Dahomey  is  as  follows : 
— Almost  all  the  world  over,  where  man  is  circumcised, 
the  woman  is  subjected  either,  as  in  Egypt,  to  mutila- 
tion of  the  clitoris,  performed  in  early  infancy,  when 
that  part  is  prominent,  or  as  in  the  Somal  and  the 
upper  Nilotic  tribes,  described  by  M.  Werner  (Reise 
zur  Entdeckimg  der  Quellen  des  Weiss  en  Nil),  to 
mutilation  combined  with  excision  of  the  nymphcB 
and    fibulation,    the   wounded   surfaces   being  roughly 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  87 

Stitched  together.  The  reason  of  such  mutilation  is 
evident.  Removal  of  the  prepuce  blunts  the  sensitive- 
ness of  the  glans  penis,  and  protracts  the  act  of  Venus, 
which  Africans  and  Asiatics  ever  strive,  even  by  charms 
and  medicines,  to  lengthen.  The  clitoris,  called  by 
old  authors  fons  et  scaturigo  Veneris,  must  be  reduced 
to  a  similar  condition,  or  the  too  frequent  recurrence 
of  the  venereal  orgasm  would  injure  the  health  of  the 
woman.  This  is  the  case  in  the  old  Calabar  River  of 
the  Biafran  Bight;  in  Dahomey  it  is  reversed. 

Adagbwiba,  or  circumcision,  which  in  parts  of  West 
Africa, — the  Gold  Coast  for  instance, — appears  sporadic, 
is  universally  practised  in  Dahomey.  During  the  days 
of  the  History  (Introd.,  p.  XVIII)  the  time  of  submitting 
to  the  rite  was  left  to  the  boys  themselves,  and  their 
caresses  were  not  admitted  by  the  women  as  long  as 
they  remained  in  the  natural  state.  At  present,  circum- 
cision is  undergone  in  Whydah  and  about  the  seaboard 
at  the  age  of  twelve  to  sixteen;  in  the  interior  it  is 
often  delayed  till  the  youth  is  twenty  years  old,  when 
it  becomes  cruel  and  sometimes  dangerous.  It  is  ap- 
parently not  a  religious  ceremony :  a  lay  practitioner, 
and  not  the  fetishman,  being  the  performer.  The 
patient  sits  over  a  small  hole  dug  in  the  ground.  The 
operator  draws  out  the  prepuce,  which,  as  amongst 
Africans  generally,  is  long  and  fleshy,  and  removes 
the  blood  from  it  by  manipulation.  He  then  inserts 
under  the  prepuce  the  forefinger  of  the  left  hand,  and 
wetting  with  saliva  a  splint  or  a  bit  of  straw,  marks 
the  circle  which  is  to  be  removed.  Two  cuts  with  a 
sharp  razor,  one  above,  the  other  below,  conclude  the 
operation.  This  would  argue  an  origin  unconnected 
with  the  Jewish  and  with  the  Moslem  forms,  which 
also  vary;  amongst  circumcising  peoples,  however,  the 


88  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF 

rite  is  everywhere  differently  performed.  The  favourite 
styptic  is  heated  sand  thrown  on  the  wound,  which  is 
washed  every  third  day  with  simples  boiled  in  water. 
The  drink  is  ginger  and  warm  water;  the  food  preferred 
is  ginger  soup,  but  anything  may  be  eaten  except  pork. 
•'A  certain  operation  peculiar  to  this  country,"  says 
the  History  [loc.  cit.),  "  is  likewise  performed  upon  the 
women,"  and  this  the  foot-note  thus  explains  — /^rc"- 
longatio,  videlicet,  artijicialts  labiorum  pitdendi,  capellcc 
mamillis  siniilliiua  (That  is  to  say  the  artificial  lengthen- 
ing of  the  lips  of  the  pudendum,  so  as  closely  to  resemble 
a  she-goat's  dugs).  .  The  parts  in  question,  locally 
called  "  Tu"  must,  from  the  earliest  years,  be  ma- 
nipulated by  professional  old  women,  as  is  the  bosom 
amongst  the  embryo  prostitutes  of  China.  If  this  be 
neglected,  lady  friends  will  deride  and  denigrate  the 
mother,  declaring  that  she  has  neglected  her  child's 
education,  and  the  juniors  will  laugh  at  the  daughter 
as  a  coward,  who  would  not  prepare  herself  for  mar- 
riage. The  sole  possible  advantage  to  be  derived  from 
the  strange  practice  is  the  prevention  of  rape,  but  the 
men  are  said  to  enjoy  handling  the  long  projections, 
whose  livid  slaty  hue  suggests  the  idea  of  the  turkey- 
cock's  carbuncle.  It  is  popularly  said,  "  There  can 
be  no  pleasurable  Venus  without  'Tu'."  I  find  the 
custom  amongst  the  cognate  tribes  of  Grand  Popo,  but 
not  in  any  other  part  of  the  West  African  Coast. 

As  a  rule  the  Dahomeyan  eunuch  still  marries,  and  I 
have  heard  of  cases  similar  to  that  quoted  in  Dalziel's 
History,  when  relating  the  end  of  the  rebel  eunuch 
"Tanga:"  —  "To  his  wives  he  appeared  not  the  rigid 
jailer,  nor  the  tyrannic  usurper  of  their  affections,  but 
the  generous  arbiter  of  their  liveliest  pleasures.  Hence 
they  could  not  but  be  charmed  with  a  freedom  which 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  89 

no  other  seraglio  enjoyed,  and "  (all  devoted  themselves 
to  death)  "they  would  not  survive  that  feHcity  and 
protection  which  was  to  terminate  with  the  existence 
of  their  master  and  their  lover,  whose  ruin  seemed 
inevitable."  It  is  difficult  to  obtain  information  in 
Dahomey  concerning  eunuchs,  who  are  special  slaves  of 
the  king,  and  bear  the  dignified  title  of  royal  wives. 
The  operation  is  performed  in  the  palaces,  by  evulsion 
of  the  testicles,  and  is  often  fatal,  especially  when 
deferred  till  the  age  of  twenty.  Throughout  Yoruba 
these  neutrals  are  found  at  the  different  courts,  and 
the  practice  may  have  migrated  from  the  East. 

Amongst  all  barbarians  whose  primal  want  is  progeny, 
we  observe  a  greater  or  a  less  development  of  the 
Phallic  worship.  In  Dahomey  it  is  uncomfortably  pro- 
minent; every  street  from  Whydah  to  the  capital  is 
adorned  with  the  symbol,  and  the  old  ones  are  not 
removed..  The  Dahomeyan  Priapus  is  a  clay  figure  of 
any  size  between  a  giant  and  a  pigmy,  crouched 
upon  the  ground  as  if  contemplating  its  own  Attributes. 
The  head  is  sometimes  a  wooden  block  rudely  carved, 
more  often  dried  mud,  and  the  eyes  and  teeth  are 
supplied  by  cowries.  A  huge  penis,  like  the  section 
of  a  broom-stick,  rudely  carv^ed,  like  the  Japanese  articles 
which  I  have  lately  been  permitted  to  inspect,  projects 
horizontally  from  the  middle.  I  could  have  carried  off 
a  donkey's  load  had  I  been  aware  of  the  rapidly 
rising  value  of  Phallic  specimens  amongst  the  collectors 
of  Europe.  The  Tree  of  Life  is  anointed  with  palm- 
oil,  which  drips  into  a  pot  or  a  shard  placed  below  it, 
and  the  would-be  mother  of  children  prays  that  the 
great  god  Legba  will  make  her  fertile.  Female  Legbas 
are  rare,  about  one  to  a  dozen  males.  They  are,  if 
possible,    more   hideous   and    gorilla-like  than  those  of 


90  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

the  Other  sex;  their  breasts  resemble  the  halves  of 
German  sausages,  and  the  external  labia,  which  are 
adored  by  being  anointed  with  oil,  are  painfuUy  de- 
veloped. There  is  another  Phallic  god  named  "  Bo  " ,  the 
guardian  of  warriors  and  the  protector  of  markets.  * 

The    Apron    of    the    Hottentot   Women.  2     A 

peculiarity  belonging  to  the  Hottentot  or  Bosjesman 
women  is  the  enormous  elongation  of  the  nymphae. 
Their  labia  minora,  of  extravagant  length,  presenting 
a  reddish  blue  livid  coloration,  remain  joined  together 
in  their  entire  length,  and  descend  vertically  between  the 
thighs.  According  to  certain  travellers  these  nymphae, 
thus  in  juxta  position,  might  at  first  sight  be  mistaken 
for  a  male  member,  for  a  narrow   flabby  penis. 

This  deformity  has  been  called  by  all  travellers  the 
Apron ;  some,  who  had  been  unfortunately  too  discreet 
to  examine  the  thing  closely,  took  it  for  an  article  of 
dress  placed  in  front  of  the  genital  organs,  either 
from  modesty,  or  else  from  simple  coquetry ;  others 
have  considered  this  appendage  to  be  a  special  organ ; 
very  few,  indeed,  among  those  who  have  examined 
more  closely,  have  been  able  to  exactly  understand 
the  disposition  of  this  anomaly.  But  the  apron  is  not 
a  distinctive  characteristic  of  the  Bosjesman  race. 
Cuvier  relates  that  in  Abyssinia  it  was  usual  to  perform 
excision  of  the  deformed  labia  minora  and  that  one 
of  the  first  reforms  sought  to  be  introduced  by  the 
Catholic  missionaries,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  when 
they  introduced  their  religion  into  the  country,  was 
the  suppression  of  this  operation.     But  the  young  girl 

'  From    Sir    R.    F.    Burton's   article   in  Memoirs  of  Anthropological 
Society  of  London  (Lond.,    1863,   pages  317 — 320). 

*  Bulletin  de  la  Socie'te  d'Anthropologie,    1 88  I    (pages  385 — 388). 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  91 

converts,  who  had  not  been  operated  upon,  being  no 
longer  able  to  find  any  husbands,  the  Pope,  who  was  then 
not  yet  infallible,  authorised  the  shortening  of  the  labia. 

This  elongation  of  the  labia  minora  is  also  observable 
among  Negresses :  Mr.  L.  Vincent  saw  s  3me  measuring 
from  2  to  3  inches.  This  deformation  is  also  some- 
times observable  on  White  women,  but  in  a  far  less 
exaggerated  degree. 

But  if  this  anatomical  peculiarity  is  not  exclusively 
the  privilege  of  the  Bosjesman  race,  in  no  other  does 
this  deformation  attain  such  prodigious  proportions ;  in 
fact,  some  of  these  women  have  been  found  wearing 
aprons  of  from  6  to  7   inches  in  length. 

Many  opinions  have  been  expressed  concerning  this 
apron :  some  have  simply  denied  its  existence ;  others 
have  considered  it  to  be  the  result  of  certain  practices, 
as  an  artificial  deformation ;  and  lastly,  among  the 
authors  who  reasonably  believed  that  this  peculiarity 
was  to  be  attributed  to  nature,  not  only  have  the  most 
various  ideas  and  hypotheses  been  expressed,  but  the 
most  fantastical  descriptions  have  been  traced. 

Perron,  who  seems  to  have  adopted  the  opinion  of 
General  Jansens,  thinks  that  the  apron  is  a  special 
organ  placed  in  front  of  the  genitals  and  not  the  devel- 
opment of  one  of  their  parts. 

Levaillant's  error  is  less  serious,  but  he  also  has  not 
looked  close  enough,  and  if  he  has  seen  that  the  apron 
is  a  part  of  the  organs  of  generation  considerably 
developed,  he  has  not  sufficiently  noted  the  starting- 
point  nor  the  cause  of  this  deformation ;  he  thinks 
that  it  is  an  artificially  promoted  elongation  of  the 
labia  majora:  "The  apron,"  he  says,  "may  attain  to 
the  length  of  3^  inches,  more  or  less,  according  to 
the   age    of  the   individual,    or   to  the  trouble  she  has 


92  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS    OF 

taken  to  cultivate  this  strange  ornament;  I  saw  a 
young  girl  of  fifteen  whose  nymphae  were  already  4 
inches  long.  Until  then  it  is  friction  and  traction  which 
have  begun  to  distend,  suspended  weights  complete 
the  work." 

Barrow,  with  much  reason,  protests  against  this 
opinion.  In  fact,  the  apron  is  so  little  of  an  ornament, 
that  a  great  many  women,  not  only  among  the  Hot- 
tentots, but  also  among  the  Bosjesmans,  hide  it.  Some 
of  the  latter  who  go  about  naked,  when  before  strangers, 
keep  their  nymphae  squeezed  between  their  thighs  so 
as  to  dissim.ulate  them  from  view.  This  it  was  that 
caused  certain  travellers  to  imagine  that  the  deformation 
did  not  exist.  And  this  dissimulation  may  be  com- 
plete, for  this  is  what  Cuvier  says  of  the  Hottentot 
Venus :  "  While  she  was  being  examined  she  kept 
her  apron  hidden  between  her  thighs ;  it  was  only 
after  her  death  that  she  was  found  to  have  pos- 
sessed one." 

Besides  all  the  Bosjesmans  questioned  by  Barrow 
affirmed  to  him  that  this  deformation  was  natural  and 
that  the  means  employed  to  obtain  it,  mentioned  by 
Levaillant,  were  never  resorted  to.  Many  Bosjesman 
women  transported  into  Cape  Colony  in  early  age, 
never  having  revisited  the  country  of  their  birth,  and 
consequently  ignorant  of  such  practices,  had  deformed 
genitals  like  the  Bosjesman  women  of  the  Bush. 

Of  all  travellers,  Barrow  is  he  who  has  most  care- 
fully examined  this  anomaly.  He  relates  as  follows: 
•*  Everybody  knows  the  history  of  the  appendage  which 
the  Hottentot  women  possess  at  a  place  not  usually 
exposed  to  view ;  a  conformation  not  belonging  to  the 
fair  sex  in  general.  This  fact  is  absolutely  true.  As 
for  th6  Bosjesman  women,  all  of  them  were  the  same 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  93 

in  the  tribe  we  met,  and  we  were  able  to  satisfy  our 
curiosity  on  that  point,  without  in  the  least  offending 
their  modesty.  After  examining  them  carefully,  it 
seemed  to  me  to  be  an  elongation  of  the  labia  minora, 
more  or  less  extended  according  to  the  age  of  the 
subject.  The  longest  we  measured  were  a  little  over 
5  inches;  the  woman  carrying  them  was  of  middle 
age.  Some  are  said  to  have  them  longer.  These 
elongated  nymphae,  joined  together  and  pendent,  seem 
at  first  sight  as  if  belonging  to  the  opposite  sex.  Their 
colour  is  a  livid  blue  with  a  reddish  tint,  very  much 
like  the  comb  of  a  Turkey-cock,  an  excrescence  which 
can  give  a  pretty  good  idea  of  it,  with  regard  to 
appearance,  size  and  form.  The  interior  parts  of  the 
nymphae,  wrinkled  and  creased  in  the  White  woman, 
lose  this  character  among  the  Hottentots  and  become 
perfectly  smooth ;  but  then  they  no  longer  possess  that 
stimulating  nature  for  which  certain  anatomists  pre- 
tended that  they  had  been  created;  these  appendages 
have  at  least  the  advantage  of  protecting  the  women 
from  all  violence  on  the  part  of  the  other  sex;  for  it 
seems  almost  impossible  that  a  man  should  have  con- 
nection with  such  a  woman  without  her  consent  or 
even  without  her  aid." 

The  best  description  of  the  apron  is  that  given  by 
Cuvier,  after  the  Hottentot  Venus,  whose  body  he 
had:  "  According  to  necroscopic  examination,"  he  says, 
"it  was  apparent  that  the  apron  was  not,  as  Perron 
had  supposed,  a  particular  organ,  but  the  development 
of  the  nymphae ;  the  labia  majora  were  not  salient, 
they  intercepted  an  oval  of  about  4  inches  in  length. 
From  the  superior  angle  between  them  there  depended 
a  semi-cylindrical  protuberance  of  about  18  lines  in 
length   with    6    lines  in  width,  the  lower  extremity  of 


94  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

which  widens  out,  divides  and  prolongs  in  the  shape 
of  two  fleshy  petals,  creased,  of  about  2^  inches  in 
length,  with  i  inch  in  width;  each  of  these  is  rounded 
at  the  end;  their  basis  spreads  out  and  falls  down 
along  the  interior  border  of  the  labia  majora  and 
terminates  in  a  fleshy  crest  at  the  lower  angle  of  the 
labia.  If  these  two  appendages  are  lifted  up,  they 
form  together  the  figure  of  a  heart,  the  lobes  of  which 
would  be  narrow  and  long,  the  middle  being  occupied 
by  the  opening  of  the  vulva.  Each  of  these  lobes 
bears,  on  its  outer  surface,  close  to  the  inner  margin, 
a  furrow  deeper  than  the  other  creases,  and  which 
continues  deepening  until  the  two  bifurcations  join 
together;  so  that  where  they  have  thus  united  there 
is  a  double  border  encircling  a  dimple  in  the  form  of 
a  wedge ;  in  the  middle  of  this  dimple  there  is  a  slender 
prominence  terminating  in  a  little  point  at  the  place 
where  the  two  borders  join  again  together. 

"  Consequently  the  two  fleshy  lobes  are  formed  above 
by  the  prepuce  and  the  summit  of  the  nympJia',  the 
rest  of  them  consisting  only  in  the  extra-development 
of  these  sanie  nyniphcF.  The  vulva  and  the  matrix 
show    nothing  particular." 

The  above  can  be  verified  by  a  visit  to  the  Museum 
of  Natural  History  at  the  Jar  din  drs  Plant  cs  (Paris), 
where  there  is  a  life-size  exact  model  of  the  Hottentot 
Venus,  in  nahiralibus. 

Thibetan  Nuptial  Customs.  In  Thibet  the  young 
girls  about  to  marry  are  previously  relieved  of  their 
virginity  by  the  priests,  either  Buddhist  or  Tao-See, 
according  to  their  religion.  In  either  case,  the  priest 
of  one  or  the  other  faith  has  mission  to  prepare  the 
bride  for  the  nuptial  rite. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  95 

In  the  Chinese  text  this  ceremony  is  called  fchin- 
than.  '  Each  year,  at  the  fourth  moon,  the  officer  of 
the  Province  announces  the  day  fixed  for  the  fchin- 
than.  On  that  day  each  priest  has  his  female  client 
and  can  have  but  one. 

On  the  marriage  day,  the  procession  of  friends,  with 
music  and  drums,  goes  in  grand  parade  to  meet  the 
priest  and  accompanies  him  to  the  residence  of  the 
bride. 

There,  two  canopies  have  been  prepared  covered 
with  brilliant  coloured  stuffs.  The  priest  occupies  one 
seat,  the  bride  the  other. 

As  soon  as  night  has  fallen,  the  principal  persons 
of  the  escort  disappear,  but  the  gongs  and  trumpets 
continue  more  than  ever  to  make  as  much  noise  as 
possible  before  the  house  of  the  bride. 

During  this  night  full  license  is  granted  to  the  priest, 
and  this  is,  as  modestly  expressed  as  possible,  what 
takes  place: 

^  Atidivi  illujii  cm/i  virgine  sinnil  m  proximum 
cubiculum  ingrcdi,  ibiquc  earn,  7}ianu  adhibita,  con- 
stuprare.  MamiDi  deinde  in  vinum  immisit,  quo,  si 
quihisdam  crcdideris,  pater,  mater,  proximi  tandem 
atquc  vicini  frontem  signa^it ;  si  aliis,  vimun  ore  ipsi 
degustant.  Sunt  et  qui  sacerdotem  puellcp  pleno  coitu 
miscere  asseriint,  alii  contra  contendunt.'" 

(I  have  heard  tell  that  the  priest  going  into  a  neigh- 
bouring chamber  with  the  maid,  there  deflowers  her, 
making  use  of  his  hand  for  the  purpose.  Then  he 
plunged  his  hand  in  wine,  with  which,  if  you  believe 
some  authorities,  the  father,  mother,  relations  generally 
and  neighbours,  put  a  mark  on  their  forehead;  if  others 

*  In  Latin :  strati  dispositio.  (Abel  Rd-niusat,  Melanges  Asiatiques, 
t.  I,  p.   7 1    &  seq.) 


96  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

are  to  be  credited,  they  actually  swallow  the  wine. 
Some  moreover  declare  the  priest  enjoys  full  coition 
with  the  girl,  but  others  deny  this). 

The  Perforatio  Penis  in  Australia.  *  "  Before 
leaving  Australia  I  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  Mr. 
B.  . .  . ,  an  experienced  squatter,  who  gave  me,  some 
interesting  information  concerning  the  Mica  operation 
in  Central  Australia. 

"  This  operation  consists  in  a  slitting  up  of  the  lower 
side  of  the  urethra,  in  consequence  of  which  the  penis 
is  no  longer  a  tube  but  more  exactly  a  gutter.  The 
operation  is  performed  by  means  of  a  sharp  flint  and 
a  piece  of  bark  is  placed  in  the  wound  to  prevent 
primary  healing  of  the  severed  surfaces  by  agglutina- 
tion. After  the  operation  the  young  men  may  go 
about  perfectly  naked,  which  they  are  forbidden  to  do 
previously.  They  are  now  permitted  to  marry.  In 
micturition  they  stand  erect,  the  legs  apart  and  urinate 
like  women.  In  the  moment  of  erection  the  penis  is 
broad  and  flat  and  the  sperm  is  ejaculated  extra  vagina 
(outside  the  vagina).  This  fact  was  also  noticed  by 
other  European  travellers  who  had  paid  natives  to 
perform  coition  in  their  presence.  It  was  also  parti- 
cularly remarked  that  among  about  300  natives  there 
were  only  three  or  four  who  had  not  been  operated, 
and  it  appeared  that  upon  these  devolved  the  duty 
of  insuring  the  propagation  of  the  tribe.  One  of  these, 
who  had  been  no  doubt  specially  selected  for  the 
purpose,  was  a  splendid  specimen  of  humanity,  fully 
six  feet  two  inches  in  stature." 

Edward  J.  Eyre,  mjourn.  0/ Expedition  0/ Discovery 

'  Extracts  from    Travellers'  Note-Books. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  97 

into  Central  Atistralia,  etc.,  Lond.  1840 — 41,  Vol.  T, 
p.  212,  says:  "In  the  Port  Lincoln  Peninsula  and 
along  the  adjacent  coast  the  natives  not  only  are  cir- 
cumcised, but  have  in  addition  another  most  extraor- 
dinary ceremonial :  Findititr  usque  ad  urethram  a 
parte  infer  a  penis,  p.  213.  (The  penis  is  cleft  right 
to  the  urethra  from  underneath).  Among  the  party  at 
the  camp  I  examined  many  and  all  had  been  operated 
upon.  The  ceremony  with  them  seemed  to  have  taken 
place  between  the  age  of  twelve  and  fourteen  years, 
for  several  of  the  boys  of  that  age  had  recently  under- 
gone the  operation,  the  wounds  being  still  fresh  and 
inflamed.  This  custom  must  contribute  to  prevent  a 
too  rapid  increase  of  the  population  ..." 

In  another  work  by  several  authors:  The  Native 
Tribes  of  South  Australia,  Adelaide,  1879,  the  Rev.  G. 
Taplin,  in  a  note  at  page  14,  gives  a  description  of 
the  operation:  "■  Operationein  hoc  modo  perficiu7it : 
OS  Walabii  attenuatuni  per  urethram  immittunt  illud- 
que  ad  scrotum  protrudunt  ita  ut  permeet  carnem. 
Scindunt  dein  lapide  acuto  usque  ad glandeni  penis . . ." 
(They  perform  the  operation  in  the  following  way: 
they  insert  the  slender  bone  of  a  Walaby  down  the 
urethra,  and  push  it  home  to  the  scrotum,  so  as  to 
pierce  the  flesh.  Then  with  a  sharp  stone  they  slit 
up  the  penis  right  to  the  glans).  In  the  same  work 
(p.  231),  the  missionary  C.  W.  Schiirmann  writes  as 
follows :  "  Another  operation  is  also  performed  at 
this  period.  It  consists  of  a  cut,  with  a  chip  of 
quartz  from  the  orifice  of  the  penis,  along  its  lower 
side  down  to  the  scrotum,  opening  the  passage  out 
in  its  whole  length.  I  have  not  been  able  to 
ascertain  the  motives  of  this  strange  mutilation." 
— S.    Gason    says    in    Manners   and   Customs  of  the 


98  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

Native  Tribes  of  South  Australia,  p.  273  :  "So  soon  as 
the  hair  on  the  face  of  the  young  man  is  sufficiently 
grown  to  allow  the  end  of  the  beard  to  be  tied,  the 
ceremony  of  the  Koolpie  is  decided  on  .  .  .  The  operation 
is  then  commenced  by  first  laying  his  penis  on  a  piece 
of  bark,  when  one  of  the  party,  provided  with  a  sharp 
splinter  of  flint,  makes  an  incision  underneath  the 
penis,  into  its  passage,  from  the  foreskin  to  its  base; 
this  done,  a  piece  of  bark  is  inserted  in  the  wound 
so  as  to  prevent  its  healing  by  first  intention.  . ." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Erotic    dances  of  the  Scficgai  Natives . —  The    "  A/iainnlis    fohiF 
and   the    "  hamboiila"   of  the    Jfo/o/s.  —  The   "  he//v  dance"   of  the 
Landoumans   of  Rio  Nunez. —  Obscene  dance  of  the  massacre  of 
the  wonnded,   and  tnntt/ation  of  the  dead,  on  the  f eld  of  battle. — 
IVie  Gonrou  or  Kola  nut,  the  aphrodisiac  of  the  Negroes. 

All  the  tribes  of  Senegal  have  dances  which  are 
peculiar  to  them.  Amongst  the  Bambaras  of  the  Upper 
Niger,  it  is  a  character  dance,  a  sort  of  war  dance 
performed  by  armed  men.  But,  amongst  the  greater 
number  of  the  other  tribes,  the  dance  has  an  erotic 
character.  The  most  striking  of  these  is  the  famous 
dance  of  the  Wolofs  of  Walou,  generally  called  by  the 
generic  name  of  bamboula. 

The  Anamalis  Fobil,  or  Bamboula  of  the  Wolofs, 

is  frequently  danccKl*  in  the  streets  of  Saint  Louis  and 
the  Negro  suburbs  of  the  town,  by  the  light  of  the 
chaste  Diana  (which  is  then  full  moon),  by  the  brilliant 

'  Compare  the  dances  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans.  Scaliger  (J.  C), 
in  his  Poetica  (hook  T,  p.  64).  "Among  the  infamous  dances  were 
the  (fiKViOfia,  (fixvovdO-ai,  that  is  to  say  the  shaking  of  the  hips 
and  thighs,  called  by  the  Latins  crissare.  Among  the  Spaniards  this 
abominable  dance  is  still  in  honour.  The  meaning  of  this  dance  is 
very  significant:  waving  their  buttocks,  these  young  dancing  girls  stooped 
to  the  ground,  and  finally  threw  themselves  down  on  their  back,  as 
if  to  receive  the  amorous  assault.  The  Lacedemonian  ^i^aOig  differed 
from  this  dance,  in  that  the  girls  jumped  so  as  make  their  heels  strike 
their  buttocks."  Aristophanes  in  Lysistrata  (v.  82)  says:  "  I  dance 
naked  and  with  my  heel  smite  my  buttock."  Pollux  {IV,  ch.  14): — 
"  With    regard    to    the    ^i^aOiq,    it    was    a   kind    of    Laconian    dance. 

99 


100  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

light  of  which  not  a  single  detail  is  lost  to  the  spectators. 
As  soon  as  night  falls,  you  hear  the  sound  of  the  tam- 
tam, caUing  the  Negro  population  to  the  Place.  The 
beginning  is  quiet  enough,  the  tam-tams  beat  without 
any  entrain,  the  dancers,  male  and  female,  timidly 
essay  a  few  steps,  and  then  regain  the  ranks  of  the 
spectators.  Little  by  little,  they  become  warmer,  the 
dance  becomes  bolder  and  more  risky,  the  tam-tam 
marks  the  time  faster  and  faster,  the  spectators  clap 
their  hands  and  utter  obscene  cries,  particularly  the 
famous  anamalis  fobil,  and  the  paroxysm  of  lust  reaches 
its   apogee.     Loti,  in  the  Roma?i  d'un  Spakt,  gives  a 

Prizes  were  offered  for  competition,  not  only  between  young  men 
but  also  between  young  girls.  It  was  required  to  jump  and  strike 
the  buttocks  with  the  heels;  the  jumps  of  each  of  the  competitors 
were  counted  and  marked;  and  the  score  of  jumps  went  up  to 
ONE  THOUSAND !  "  Another  and  more  difficult  dance  was  known  under 
the  name  of  sxXdxTKffia,  in  which  the  foot  was  required  to  touch 
the  shoulder.  Pollux  {ibid.).  "The  exkaxxiOfiaxa  were  danced  by 
women;  it  was  required  to  kick  higher  than  the  shoulder."  For  an 
interesting  choreographical  theory  see  John  O'Neill's  erudite  work,  The 
Night  of  the  Gods,  an  Enquiry  into  Cosmic  and  Cosmogonic  Alythology 
and  Symbolism  (London,  David  Nutt,  1897),  Vol.  II.  He  traces  the  origin 
of  certain  forms  of  Dancing  to  a  primitive  religious  practice ;  and  connects 
the  same  with  the  circular  perambulation  of  Eastern  shrines  and  with 
the  use  of  the  Prayer-wheel,  and  then  explains  all  three — round  dancing, 
circular  worship  by  perambulation,  and  the  twirling  of  the  prayer-wheel 
— from  the  extremely  ancient  worship  of  the  (apparently)  revolving 
Heavens.  Schopenhauer's  philosophy  of  dancing  is  curious.  Irritability, 
he  says,  objectified  in  the  muscular  tissue,  constitutes  the  chief  characteristic 
of  animals,  and  of  the  animal  element  in  man.  Where  it  predominates 
to  excess,  dexterity,  strength,  bravery — that  is  fitness  for  bodily  exertion 
and  for  War — is  usually  to  be  found.  Nearly  all  warm-blooded  animals, 
and  even  insects,  far  surpass  Man  in  irritabihty.  It  is  by  irritability  that 
animals  are  most  vividly  conscious  of  their  existence;  wherefore  they 
exult  in  manifesting  it.  There  is  even  still  a  trace  of  that  exultation 
perceptible  in  Man,  in  dancing.  The  Will  in  Nature,  Bell  and  Son, 
1889,  p.  250. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  101 

description  of  this  dance,  which  I  may  be  permitted 
to  borrow, 

^  Anamalis  fohil !  shrieked  the  Griots,  striking  on 
their  tam-tams,  their  eyes  glaring,  their  muscles  strung, 
their  bodies  glistening  with  sweat.  And  everyone 
repeated,  clapping  their  hands  in  frenzy — anavialis 
fobil — anamalis  fobil — the  translation  of  which  would 
burn  this  page.  Anamalis  fobil !  the  first  words,  the 
dominant  note,  and  the  refrain  of  a  maniac  song,  mad 
with  fervour  and  licence,  the  song  of  the  bamboula  of 
Spring  !  Anamalis  fobil !  the  cry  of  wild  unrestrained 
desire,  of  the  vigour  of  the  Negro  o\erwarmcd  by  the 
sun  into  a  terrible  hysteria,  the  alleluia  of  Negro  love, 
the  hymn  of  seduction. 

"  To  the  bamboulas  of  Spring  come  the  young  lads, 
mingling  with  the  girls  who  have  just  assumed,  with 
great  pride,  their  costume  of  nubility,  and  to  a  wild 
rhythm  of  unearthly  melody,  they  all  sing,  dancing  on 
the  sand,  Anamalis  fobil ! — Bamboula  I  A  Griot,  who 
is  passing,  strikes  a  few  blows  on  his  tam-tam.  It  is 
the  call  to  arms,  and  all  gather  round  him.  The  women 
run  up,  and  range  themselves  in  a  closely  packed  ring, 
chanting  one  of  those  obscene  songs  of  which  they 
are  so  fond.  One  of  them  leaves  the  crowd,  and  rushes 
into  the  middle,  into  the  empty  circle  where  the  tam- 
tam is  beating :  she  dances  to  the  sound  of  grigris  and 
glass  beads ;  her  steps,  which  are  slow  at  first,  are 
accompanied  by  gestures  which  are  terribly  licentious. 
Her  movements  become  quicker  until  she  is  in  a  perfect 
frenzy  ;  they  seem  like  the  frisking  of  a  mad  monkey, 
the  contortions  of  a  maniac. 

"  Her  strength  is  at  last  exhausted,  she  retires,  breath- 
less, and  worn  out,  with  the  sweat  glistening  on  her 
black  skin  ;  her  companions  welcome  her  with  applause 


102  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

or  yells,  then  another  takes  her  place,  and  so  on  until 
all  have  taken  part." 

In  a  literary  work,  that  everybody  may  read,  the  author 
could  not  say  everything,  and  was  obliged  to  be  very 
particular,  as  to  what  he  wrote.  Not  having,  in  this 
book,  the  same  reasons  for  reticence,  I  may  explain 
that  anainalis  fobil  means,  "  the  dance  of  the  treading 
drake  " .  The  dancer  in  his  movements  imitates  the  copu- 
lation of  the  great  Indian  duck.  This  drake  has  a  mem- 
ber of  a  cork-screw  shape,  and  a  peculiar  movement. 
The  woman,  for  her  part,  tucks  up  her  clothes,  and 
convulsively  agitates  the  lower  part  of  her  body,  by 
an  indescribable  movement  of  the  haunches;  she  alter- 
nately shows  her  partner  her  vulva,  and  hides  it  from 
him,  by  a  regular  movement,  backwards  and  forwards, 
of  all  the  body.  The  presence  of  a  Toubab  does  not 
interfere  at  all  with  the  erotic  passion  of  the  dancer, 
who,  on  the  contrary  frisks  about  more  than  ever,  and 
addresses  him  with  obscene  phrases,  more  especially 
if  she  is  an  old  woman.  They  are  always  the  most 
excited,  as  Loti  has  remarked.  "  The  old  women  are 
distinguished  by  the  wildest  and  most  cynical  indecency. 
The  child,  which  she  often  carries  fastened  on  her 
back,  and  packed  up  in  the  most  uncomfortable  manner, 
utters  piercing  shrieks,  but  in  their  excitement  the 
Negresses  are  deaf  to  everything,  even  the  maternal 
instinct,  and  nothing  stops  them." 

I  have  already  said  that  the  anaynalis  fohilxs  danced 
in  Saint  Louis,  under  the  paternal  eye  of  the  authorities, 
and  without  any  interference  from  them.  At  least  it 
was  so,  barely  more  than  ten  years  ago. 

The  "Belly  Dance"  of  the  Landoumans  of  Rio 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  103 

Nunez.  The  Kassonkes  and  Sarrakholais  have  also  a 
lascivious  dance,  but  not  of  such  a  pronounced  character 
as  the  Wolof  dance.  At  Rio  Nunez,  the  Landoumans 
have  a  dance,  which  resembles  the  danse  du  ventre 
of  the  Arabs.  The  dance  is  performed  by  a  woman. 
She  executes  a  series  of  steps,  sometimes  forward, 
sometimes  backwards,  sometimes  sideways,  accompanied 
by  a  wagging  of  the  pelvis,  meant  to  imitate  the 
movements  of  a  woman  copulating  in  the  regular 
classical  method.  The  Arab  dances  at  the  Paris  Ex- 
hibition of  i88g,  gave  a  tolerably  exact,  though  not 
very  forcible,  idea  of  this  dance.  ' 

Obscene  Dance  of  the  Massacre  of  the  Whites, 
and  Mutilation  of  the  Dead.  Not  one  of  the  authors 
who  has  written  about  Senegal,  has  described  the 
horrible  doings  of  some  of  the  races  of  the  interior, 
especially  the  Toucouleurs  and  the  Malinkes,  after  a 
battle  in  which  the  Europeans  have  been  defeated  or 
repulsed,  and  have  left  their  dead  and  wounded  on 
the  field  of  battle.  These  last  are  most  horribly 
mutilated  by  the  old  women,  who  come  to  despoil  the 
dead.  For  the  dead  the  inconvenience  is  not  great, 
but  the  unfortunate  wounded  suffer  horribly  before 
they    die.     The   subject   has   been   touched    upon  very 

'  This  dance  is  highly  indecent.  We  shall  not  soon  forget  the  first 
time  we  saw  it  executed  by  two  Jewesses  absolnment  nues,  in  some 
house  to  which  our  courier  led  us  in  a  back  street  in  Tangier.  Most 
"greenhorns"  freshly  come  from  Europe  are  caught  in  this  way.  We 
were  "bled"  of  about  ten  "pesetas"  each,  of  which  the  "courier"  mentioned 
no  doubt  received  halves.  The  same  dance,  much  more  skilfully  done, 
we  have  since  witnessed  at  the  Casino  de  Pan's  for  one  franc  and  in 
a  travelling  booth  at  ft'tc  time  on  the  Place  de  la  Republiqiie  for  two 
sous.  The  danseuse  was  this  time  clothed  in  gauze  and  thus  executed, 
the  display  is  vastly  more  graceful  and  suggestive. 


104  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

delicately  in  the  "Roman  d'un  Spahi,"  the  best  book 
that  we  have  about  Senegal.  Fatou-Gaye,  the  mistress 
of  Jean,  the  Spahi, — who,  with  the  advance  gnard  of 
his  squadron,  has  been  killed  by  an  ambuscade  of  the 
enemy, — comes  to  search  for  the  corpse  of  her  lover, 
which  she  at  last  finds.  The  description  of  the  scene 
is  very  powerful.  "  Fatou-Gaye  stopped,  trembling  and 
terrified.  She  had  recognised  him,  lying  there  with 
his  arms  thrown  out,  and  his  mouth  open  to  the  sun, 
and  she  recited  some  unknown  prayer  to  a  pagan 
deity,  touching  meanwhile  the  grigris  hung  round  her 
black  neck.  She  remained  a  long  time,  muttering  to 
herself,  and  gazing  with  haggard  eyes,  the  whites  of 
which  were  suffused  with  blood.  Afar  off,  she  saw 
approaching  the  old  women  of  the  enemy's  tribe, 
wending  their  way  towards  the  dead,  and  she  suspected 
that  something  horrible  was  about  to  happen.  Hideous 
old  Negresses,  their  wrinkled  skins  shining  under  the 
torrid  sun,  approached  the  young  man,  their  grigris 
and  glass  beads  clinking  as  they  moved ;  they  touched 
the  body  with  their  feet,  laughed,  performed  obscene 
rites,  and  uttered  strange  words  which  seemed  like  the 
cries  of  monkeys;  they  violated  the  dead  with  ghastly 
buffoonery." 

We  will  complete  this  quotation  by  an  exact  recital 
of  what  takes  place, — the  details  were  furnished  to  me 
by  persons  in  whom  I  have  implicit  confidence.  The 
old  Negresses  cut  off  the  organs  of  generation  of  the 
wretched    Toubabs,    with    a    common    knife,  ^     badly 

'  This  terrible  form  of  mutilation  was  practised  by  the  Abyssinians 
in  the  late  war  with  Italy.  After  the  battle  of  Adoua  (in  1896)  a 
sergeant  who  had  been  temporarily  stunned,  came  to  himself  and  followed 
the  line  of  retreat,  when,  near  a  pile  of  slain  soldiers,  overcome  with 
fatigue,    he    again    fainted.     On    recovering   his   senses   he   felt  a  sharp. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  lOS 

sharpened,  whilst  the  young  women  dance  round  in  a 
characteristic  dance  of  the  same  nature  as  the  a?tamalts 
fobil,  and  showing  their  vulva,  and  insulting  in  his 
distress  the  unhappy  wretch,  who  is  sometimes  con- 
scious, and  saying  to  him,  "  Toubab,  look  at  this  kwt: 
you  shall  never  more  enjoy  it."  The  mutilation  being 
effected,  the  old  women  stuff  the  poor  man's  yard  into 
his  mouth,  and  leave  him  to  perish  miserably.  The 
dead  are  treated  the  same,  but  of  course  it  makes  no 
difference  to  them.  It  is  usual,  amongst  the  officers 
engaged  on  expeditions  in  Senegal,  to  always  reserve 
for  themselves  the  sixth  shot  of  the  revolver,  so  that 
they  may  not  fall  alive  into  the  hands  of  these  devilish 
hags.  The  young  white  soldiers  are  also  recommended 
to  fight  to  the  last  drop  of  their  blood,  and  never  under 
any  circumstances  leave  the  field  of  battle  without 
orders.  The  removal  of  the  wounded  is  rigorously 
insisted  upon.  The  native  Sharpshooters  know  well 
what  fate  to  expect  if  they  are  defeated,  and  fight 
with  the  utmost  energy,  for  they  are  not  spared  any 
more  than  the  Whites.  The  Romans  fought  pro  arts  et 
/ocis,  and  if  the  subject  were  not  so  serious,  one 
might  say  that  in  Senegal  they  fight  pro  nientula 
et  coleis. 

The  "Gourou"  or  Kola  Nut,  the  Aphrodisiac  of 
the  Negroes.  The  Blacks  only  know  of  one  aphro- 
disiac, the  gourou  or  Kola  nut,  which,  strictly  speaking, 
is   not   a   nut  at  all,  but  a  large  chestnut,  very  much 

burning  pain  at  the  junction  of  the  thighs,  and  then,  to  his  horror, 
found  he  had  been  deprived  of  the  attributes  of  manhood.  Endowed 
with  uncommon  strength  and  courage  this  man  was  able  to  crawl  into 
the  Italian  camp,  more  dead  than  alive,  and  a  record  of  his  experiences 
appeared  in  La  Stampd.  (See  Eunuchs  and  Eunuchism ;  Paris,  1898, 
for  similar  cases). 


106  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

like  a  horse  chestnut.  This  fruit  comes  from  the  South 
rivers.  The  Negroes  of  Senegal  and  the  Soudan  chew 
the  gourou  with  delight,  although  it  has  a  sharp  and 
astringent  taste.  It  produces  on  the  Black  a  sort  of 
general  nervous  excitement,  which  sensibly  increases 
all  the  physical  faculties,  including  of  course  the 
generative  powers.  A  Negro  who  chews  a  few  gourou 
nuts,  can  go  twenty-four  hours  without  eating,  and 
march  or  dance,  almost  without  interruption,  the  whole 
time :  at  the  great  bamboulas  and  fetes,  the  gourou  is 
therefore  much  used.  It  is  a  most  valuable  fruit  when 
exceptionally  hard  work  (amorous  or  otherwise)  has  to 
be  done,  but  its  use  should  not  be  abused.  Kola  is 
now  admitted  into  European  therapeutics,  and  is  used 
for  restoring  lost  strength,  and  stimulating  the  forces 
of  the  body.  It  contains  a  greatar  quantity  of  cafteine 
and  theobromine  than  the  best  teas  and  coffees ;  and 
it  has  a  direct,  immediate,  and  certain  effect  upon  the 
heart  and  the  circulation,  which  it  regulates  and 
strengthens.  Kola  is  a  most  useful  medicine,  active^ 
and  energetic,  and  a  restorative  of  the  best  kind.  I 
found  it  of  great  service  when  I  accompanied  the 
expedition  to  Fouta-Toro,  and  I  chewed  it  from  time 
to  time,  in  order  to  restore  my  strength.  ^ 

'  A  most  interesting  account  is  given  by  Edouard  Heckel  under  the 
title  of  "  Des  Kolas  Africains "  in  the  Bull,  de  la  Soct.  de  Geographic 
de  Marseille,  Avril-juin,    1883. 

For  a  detailed  account  of  certain  Aphrodisiacs  see  The  Old  Man 
Young  Again  (1898)  and  Aphrodisiacs  and  Ant i- Aphrodisiacs,  hy^dhn 
Davenport,  Lond.    1869. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

The  iiniinportance  of  the  signs  of  virotnttv  in  the  Negress. — 
Negro  girls  defloivered  bv  Toubabs. — Amorous  snbierfuges  used 
in  Europe. — Artifices  used  by  Asiatic  peoples.  —  Former  Ameiicati 
customs.  —  Report  of  Carletti,  the  Traveller. — Savage  habits 
regarding  perfumes.  —  Tujnef action  of  the  gland. — hifluence  of 
chastity  on  health.  —  Elements  of  social  science.  —  Dr.  Verga  on 
celibacy. 

Forms  of  Sexual  Intercourse  amongst  the  Negro 
Races.  I  must,  in  the  first  place,  do  my  best  to 
destroy  the  common  impression  that  prevails,  that  the 
Negress  is  "  a  hot  woman, "  passionately  fond  of  the 
pleasures  of  love.  She  is  nothing  of  the  kind,  and  only 
cares  for  the  normal  form  of  sexual  passion.  I  have  already 
remarked,  concerning  Guiana,  that  the  pure  Negress 
had  only  an  "  affection  of  the  head  "  for  the  White,  and 
that  the  woman  of  real  lively  passions  was  the  Mulatta, 
and,  more  especially,  the  Quadroon.  The  observations 
I  made  at  Senegal,  coincided  exactly  with  those  made 
at    Guiana. 

Unimportance  of  the  Signs  of  Virginity  in  the 
Negroes.  The  Negroes  of  Senegal  do  not  attach,  as 
the  Arabs  do,  considerable  importance  to  the  presence 
of  the  real  signs  of  virginitv  in  the  young  girls.  I 
have    already    mentioned    that   the  husband  purchases 

107 


108  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

his  wife,  and  that  marriage  is  a  festival,  and  not  a 
religious  ceremony.  The  non-existence  of  the  material 
proofs  of  virginity  seldom  give  rise  to  any  complaint 
on  the  part  of  the  husband.  Cases  in  which  a  young 
woman  is  sent  back  to  her  parents  are  not  common, 
for  half  the  marriage  portion  would  be  retained  by 
the  girl's  father,  as  damages.  Moreover,  the  size  of 
the  virile  member  of  the  Negro  renders  it  difficult  for 
him  to  detect  any  trick.  The  Black  bride,  on  the 
wedding  night,  shows  herself  expert  in  the  art  of 
simulating  the  struggles  of  an  expiring  virginity,  and 
it  is  considered  good  taste  for  the  girls  to  require  to 
be  almost  raped.  The  least  innocent  young  women 
are  often  the  most  clever  at  this  game.  Thus  through- 
out nearly  all  Senegal,  the  European,  who  has  a  taste 
for  maidenheads,  can  easily  be  satisfied,  provided  he 
is  willing  to  pay  the  price.  ^  At  Saint  Louis  certain 
women  of  ill-fame  procure  young  girls,  who  bear  the 
significant  name  of  the  "unpierced",  and  vary  from 
eight  or  nine  years  to  the  nubile  age.  It  is  even 
easier  to  obtain  a  young  girl  before  she  is  nubile  than 
afterwards,  on  account  of  the  certainty  of  her  not 
bearing  any  children.  The  price  is  within  the  range 
of  all  purses,  according  to  quality,  and  you  can  have 
a  Negro  girl,  warranted  "  unpierced"  (belonging  to 
the  category  of  domestic  slaves),  for  the  modest  sum 
of  from  eight  to  sixteen  shillings.  Of  course,  the 
respectable  matron  pockets  half  this  sum,  for  her 
honorarium. 


'  A  celebrated  Parisian  courtesan  used  to  boast,  according  to  Man- 
TEGAZZA,  that  she  had  "sold"  her  "virginity"  on  82  different  occa- 
sions!! See  "^  Curious  Bypaths  of  History"  (Paris,  1898,  pages  275 
to  300)  for  further  uncommon  dctoils  on   this  subject. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  109 

The  Medico- Juridical  Importance  of  Signs  of 
Virginity.  Taylor  has  treated  this  subject  at  great 
length  in  his  valuable  work  on  Medical  Jurisprudence, 
and  inasmuch  as  "  Untrodden  Fields  "  will  be  read  by 
Doctors  and  Anthropologists  living  abroad  and  who 
may  not  have  Taylor's  book  within  reach,  we  trust  to 
be  excused  for  quoting  so  long  a  passage.  We  have 
fully  detailed  our  own  views  and  experience  on  this 
subject  in  another  part  of  the  present  work. 

"The  question,"  says  Taylor,  "  may  become  of  impor- 
tance not  only  as  it  affects  the  reputation  of  a  female,  but 
the  credibility  and  character  of  the  person  who  makes  the 
imputation  of  a  want  of  chastity.  In  1845,  a  gentleman 
was  brought  to  a  court-martial  on  a  charge  of  having 
deliberately  and  falsely  asserted  that  on  several  occasions 
he  had  connection  with  a  native  woman.  This  was 
denied  by  the  woman,  and  evidence  was  adduced  to 
show  that  she  had  still  what  is  commonly  regarded 
as  the  main  sign  of  virginity,  namely,  an  unruptured 
hymen.  In  consequence  of  this,  the  gentleman  was 
found  guilty  and  cashiered.  The  woman  was  at  the 
time  about  to  be  married,  and  this  rendered  the  in- 
vestigation all  the  more  important  to  her.  A  surgeon, 
who  examined  the  girl,  deposed  that  he  found  the 
membrane  of  a  semilunar  form,  and  tensely  drawn 
across  the  vagina ;  and  his  evidence  was  corroborated 
by  that  of  a  midwife.  The  inculpated  person  took  up 
a  double  line  of  defence — ist,  that  the  examination  of 
the  woman  was  incomplete ;  and  2nd,  that  the  hymen, 
if  present,  would  not  justify  the  witness  in  saying  that 
intercourse  could  not  possibly  have  taken  place.  On 
the  first  point,  it  is  unnecessary  here  to  make  a 
remark ;  but  it  appeared,  from  their  own  admissions, 
that  the  witnesses  had  never  before  examined  women 


no  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

with    this  particular  object.     Assuming  that  there  was 
no    mistake,   it  became  a    question  whether  non-inter- 
course   could    in    such    a    case    be    inferred   from    the 
presence   of  the  membrane.     Fruitful  intercourse,    it  is 
well   known,    may   take   place    without  rupture  of  the 
hymen.     Some  instances  of  this  kind  were  referred  to 
at  the  court-martial ;  but  such  cases  are  usually  regarded 
as   of  an    exceptional    nature.     The    real    question    is, 
whether,    unless   the    hymen   be  in  an  abnormal  state, 
intercourse    can    possibly    occur    between    young    and 
active   persons    without   a   rupture    of  this   membrane. 
Intercourse    is    not    likely   to  be  confined,  under  these 
circumstances,  to  a  mere  penetration  of  the  vulva.     The 
membrane  in  this  woman  is  stated  to  have  been  tensely 
drawn  across  the  canal,  and  it  was  not  tough;  it  was 
therefore    in    a    condition    to    render   it   most  easy  for 
rupture.     In    the    case    of  an    old   man,    or   of  one    of 
weak    virile    power,    vulvar  intercourse    might   be   had 
without   destroying    the    membrane;    but   such    a   case 
could    only   be    decided   by    the   special    circumstances 
which  accompanied  it.     The  presence  of  the  unruptured 
hymen  affords  a  presumptive  but  not  an  absolute  proof 
that    the    woman  is  a  virgin ;  and  if  the  membrane  is 
of  ordinary  size  and  shape,  and  in  the  ordinary  situation, 
it  shows  clearly  that,  although  attempts  at  intercourse 
may  have  been  made,  there  can  have  been  no  vaginal 
penetration.     Admitting  the  statements  of  the  examiners 
to    be   correct,    it    is   improbable  that  this  woman  had 
had  sexual    intercourse   several  times,  or  even  on  one 
occasion. 

"  In  the  case  of  Delafosse  v.  Fortescue,  ^  which 
involved  an  action  for  defamation  of  character,  the 
plaintiff,    a   married    man,    aet,    64,    had    been  charged 

*  Exeter  Lent  Ass.,    1893. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  Ill 

with  committing  adultery  with  a  certain  woman.  Several 
witnesses  for  the  defendant  positively  swore  that  they 
had  seen  these  persons  in  carnal  intercourse.  This 
was  denied  by  the  plaintiff;  and,  as  an  answer  to  the 
case,  medical  evidence  was  tendered  to  the  effect  that 
the  woman  with  whom  the  adulterous  intercourse  was 
alleged  to  have  taken  place  had  been  examined,  and 
the  hymen  was  found  intact.  In  cross-examination, 
however,  this  was  admitted  not  to  be  a  conclusive 
criterion  of  virginity,  and  a  verdict  was  returned  for 
the  defendant.  The  form  and  situation  of  the  hymen 
in  this  case  were  not  described ;  but  it  is  to  be 
presumed  that  these  were  not  such  as  to  constitute 
a  physical  bar  to  intercourse,  or  this  would  have  been 
stated  by  the  medical  witness.  Hence  the  existence 
of  the  membrane  was  not  considered  to  disprove  the 
allegations  of  eye-witnesses.  In  Scotland  this  kind  of 
medical  evidence  is  not  admissible.  A  wife  sued  the 
husband  for  divorce,  on  the  ground,  inter  alia,  that 
he  had  committed  adultery  with  C.  In  defence  the 
defendant  denied  the  adultery,  and  adduced  C.  as  a 
witness,  who  swore  that  such  connection  had  never  taken 
place.  She  also  swore  that  she  had  submitted  to  an 
inspectio  corporis  by  Simpson.  The  defendant  then 
proposed  to  examine  Simpson,  that  he  might  speak 
to  the  result  of  his  examination.  He  argued  that  this 
was  the  best  evidence  that  he  could  adduce  in  support 
of  his  innocence,  as  if  the  girl  was  still  a  virgin  the 
adultery  alleged  could  not  have  been  committed.  The 
court  refused  to  tidmit  the  evidence,  on  the  ground 
that  the  evidence  proposed  was  merely  that  of  an 
opinion  from  the  professor;  that  other  medical  men 
might  differ  from  him  in  opinion,  even  from  the  same 
observations,    and  that,  as  the  court  could  not  compel 


112  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

C.  to  submit  to  another  examination,  the  proposed 
evidence  must  be  considered  exparte  and  inadmissible.  ^ 
In  Hunt  v.  Hunt  a  verdict  was  obtained  at  common- 
law  against  the  alleged  paramour  in  a  case  of  adultery. 
It  was  subsequently  proved  that  the  lady  was  virgo 
intacta.  So  long  as  there  are  facts  which  show  that 
women  have  actually  conceived  with  the  hymen  still 
in  its  normal  state,  it  is  inconsistent  to  apply  the  term 
'virgo  intacta'  to  women  merely  because  this  mem- 
brane is  found  entire.  A  woman  may  assuredly  have 
an  unruptured  hymen,  and  yet  not  be  a  '  virgo  intacta '. 
This  can  only  be  decided  by  the  special  circumstances 
proved  in  each  case.  Such  virgines  intactce  have 
frequently  required  the  assistance  of  accoucheurs,  and 
in  due  time  have  been  delivered  of  children.  ^  A 
similar  question  arose  in  Reg.  v,  Harmer.  ^  The  pris- 
oner was  indicted  for  perjury.  He  was  a  waiter  at 
a  tavern,  and  being  called  as  a  witness  in  a  divorce 
suit,  swore  that  he  had  seen  one  of  the  parties  in 
adulterous  intercourse  on  more  than  one  occasion.  The 
lady  with  whom  the  adultery  was  alleged  to  have 
been  committed,  denied  this  on  oath,  and  Lee  and 
another  medical  expert  gave  evidence  that  they  had 
examined  this  lady,  and  found  her  to  be  a  virgo 
intacta.     He  was  found  guilty." 

Negro  Girls  deflowered  by  Toubabs.     The  "  un- 

pierced"  soon  lose  their  right  to  the  title,  when  they 
have  to  do  with  a  Toubab,  but,  on  account  of  the 
size  of  their  genital  parts,  the  loss  of  their  maidenhead 

'  Sessions   Cases  (Edin.,  Feb.    ii,    i860). 

•  "Amer.  Journ.  Med.  Soc."  Ap.,  1873,  p.  560. 

'C.C.C,  June,  1872. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  113 

is  not  such  a  serious  affair  for  them  as  it  would  be 
for  a  little  French  girl  who  was  not  yet  nubile.  I 
have  never  remarked  in  a  little  Negress,  who  had  been 
deflowered  by  a  White,  the  vulvar  inflammation,  which, 
with  us,  is  noticed  as  the  result  of  premature  copulation. 

Amorous  Subterfuges  used  in  Europe.  Mantegazza 
makes  some  very  interesting  remarks  on  this  subject. 

In  opposition  to  those  who  exact  the  virginity  of 
the  bride,  there  are  others  who  attach  no  importance 
whatever  to  it. 

According  to  Hureau  de  Villeneuve,  ^  the  hymen  is 
not  described  in  the  Chinese  works  on  medicine  and 
surgery,  and  he  explained  the  fact  by  saying  that  the 
mothers  and  nurses  succeeded  in  obliterating  it  by 
continual  washings  of  the  genital  parts.  It  is  said  to 
be  the  same  in  India. 

Epp  enthusiastically  applauds  these  customs.  They 
contrast  with  the  want  of  cleanliness  among  us  Euro- 
peans who,  out  of  modesty  or  through  neglect,  transform 
this  nest  of  love  into  a  putrid  sink. 

"  Much  fuss  is  made  by  men  over  this  matter,  but  we  think  that  if 
they  were  purer  in  their  own  Hves  they  would  be  less  likely  to  suspect 
their  wives'  chastity.  Women  have  as  much  right  morally  to  expect 
purity  in  the  men  they  marry  as  the  conlriuy ;  although,  we  know  that 
of  course,  the  old  cry  will  be  raised  about  the  inequality  of  the  sexes 
and  the  husband  having  to  pay  for  children  not  his  own,  yet  the  fact 
remains  that  healthy  offspring  are  given  to  those  who  have  learnt 
"  self-governance".  Too  often,  the  libertine,  so  jealous  and  exacting  as 
regards  his  partner,  brings  a  syphilitic  body  to  the  marriage  bed,  and  in  the 
scrofulous  faces  of  his  children  reads  for  the  first  time  the  meaning 
about  the  "  sins  of  the  fathers  descending  upon  the  children  until  the 
third  and   fourth   generations." 

See  "  Excursus"  to  the  present  chapter  on  the  Influence  of  Chastity 
on  the  Health. 

*  De  I'Accouchemetit  Jans  la  Race  Jaune,  these  de  Paris,  Ploss, 
op.  cit.,  t.   I,  p.    219. 


114  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS  OF 

The  ancient  Egyptians  used  to  make  an  incision  in 
the  hymen  previous  to  marriage,  and  Saint  Athanasius 
relates  that  among  the  Phoenicians  a  slave  of  the 
bridegroom  was  charged  by  him  to  deflower  the  bride. 

The  Caraib  Indians  attached  no  value  to  virginity, 
and  only  the  daughters  of  the  higher  classes  were 
shut  up  during  two  years  previous  to  marriage. 

It  appears  that  among  the  Chibcha  Indians  in  Central 
America  virginity  is  not  at  all  esteemed.  It  was  con- 
sidered to  be  a  proof  that  the  maiden  had  never  been 
able  to  inspire  love. 

In  ancient  Peru  the  old  maids  were  the  object  of 
high  esteem.  There  were  sacred  virgins  called  Wives 
of  the  Sun  *  somewhat  similar  to  the  Roman  vestals. 
They  made  a  vow  of  perpetual  chastity  and  passed  their 
lives  in  weaving  and  in  preparing  chicha  ^  and  cakes 
of  Indian  corn  for  the  King  {Inca).  ^ 

It  is  also  said  that  they  were  buried  alive  when  they 
happened  to  break  their  vow  of  chastity,  unless  indeed 
they  could  prove  having  conceived,  not  from  a  man, 
but  from  the  sun.  The  seducer  was  put  to  death  and 
his  race  dispersed. 

Several  authors  worthy  of  credence  assure  us  that 
these  vestals  were  guarded  by  eunuchs.  The  temple  at 
Cuzco  had  one  thousand  virgins,  that  of  Caranqua  two 
hundred.  It  would  appear,  however,  that  the  virginity 
of  these  vestals  was  not  so  very  sacred  after  all,  for 
the  Inca  Kings  used  to  choose  from  among  them  con- 
cubines for  themselves  or  for  their  principal  vassals  and 
favourite    friends.     According    to    Torquemada,    these 

'  The  nuns  of  the  present  day,  do  they  not  style  themselves  the 
"  Spotiscs  of  Christ?" 

'  A  fermented  intoxicating  beverage. 

'  Read  the  priests  of  the  Temple.  (Trnsl.). 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  115 

vestals  remained  only  three  years  in  the  temple,  and 
were  then  replaced  by  others.  The  Inca  used  to  choose 
three  whom  he  consecrated  priestesses  of  the  sun,  then 
three  for  himself  and  the  others  he  married  to  his 
subjects  or  else  gave  them  their  liberty. 

Marco  Polo  narrates  how  young  girls  were  exposed 
by  their  mothers  on  the  public  highway  in  order  that 
travellers  might  freely  make  use  of  them.  A  young 
girl  was  expected  to  have  at  least  twenty  presents 
earned  by  such  prostitutions  before  she  could  hope  to 
find  a  husband.  This  did  not  prevent  them  from  being 
very  virtuous  after  marriage,  nor  their  virtue  from 
being  much  appreciated. 

Waitz  assures  us  that  in  several  countries  of  Africa  a 
young  girl  is  preferred  for  wife  when  she  has  made  herself 
remarked  by  several  amours  and  by  much  fecundity. 

It  was  impossible  ever  to  find  the  signs  of  virginity 
among  the  Machacura  women  in  Brazil,  and  Feldner  ^ 
explains  the  reason  in  latin :  "  Nulla  inter  illas  invcni- 
tur  virgo,  quia  ?nater  inde  in  tenera  cetate  filicB  maxi- 
ma cum  cura  omnem  vagincB  constrictio7ie7n  ingredi- 
menhunque  amovere  studet,  hoc  quidem  modo  vianui 
dextrcB  imponitiir  folium  arhoris  in  infudibuli formam 
rcdaclu?n,  et  dum  index  in  partes  genitales  ivimissus 
hue  et  illud  movetur,  per  i7tfu7idib2ilum  aqua  tepida 
immittitur.'"  (Among  them  a  virgin  is  never  to  be 
found,  for  this  reason  that  the  mother  from  her  daughter's 
tenderest  years  endeavours  with  the  utmost  care  to 
remove  all  tightness  of  the  vagina  and  obstacle  therein. 
With  this  end  in  view,  the  leaf  of  a  tree  folded  into 
the  shape  of  a  funnel  is  held  in  the  right  hand,  then 
while    the    index    finger  is  introduced  into  the  genital 

'   I'oyage  a  travers  le  Brcsil,   Licgnitz,    1828,   vol.   II,   p.    148. 


116  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS  OF 

parts  and  worked  to  and  fro,  warm  water  is  admitted 
by  means  of  the  funnel). 

Among  the  Sakalaves  in  Madagascar  the  young  girls 
deflower  themselves,  when  the  parents  have  not  pre- 
viously seen  to  this  necessary  preparation  for  marriage. 

Among  the  Balanti  of  Senegambia,  one  of  the  most 
degraded  races  in  Africa,  the  girls  cannot  find  a  hus- 
band until  they  have  been  deflowered  by  their  King, 
who  often  exacts  costly  presents  from  his  female  sub- 
jects for  putting  them  in  condition  to  be  able  to  marry. 

Barth  (1856),  in  describing  Adamad,  says  that  the 
chief  of  the  Bagoli  used  to  lie  the  first  night  with 
the  daughters  of  the  Fulba,  a  people  under  his  sway. 
Similar  facts  are  related  of  the  aborigines  of  Brazil 
and  of  the  Kinipeto  Esquimaux.  In  many  of  these 
cases  it  is  not  easy  to  determine  if  we  have  to  do 
with  the  right  of  the  strongest  or  with  a  strange  taste 
on  the  part  of  voluntary  victims. 

Demosthenes  informs  us  that  there  was  a  celebrated 
Greek  hetaera,  named  Neaera,  who  had  seven  slaves 
whom  she  called  her  daughters,  so  that  being  supposed 
to  be  free  a  higher  price  was  paid  for  their  favours. 
She  sold  their  virginity  five  or  six  times  over  and 
ended  by  selling  the  whole  lot  together. 

The  god  Mutinus,  Mutunus  or  Tutunus  of  ancient 
Rome,  used  to  have  the  new  brides  come  and  sit 
upon  his  knees,  as  if  to  offer  him  their  virginity. 
Saint  Augustine  says :  "  In  cclehratione  nuptiarum 
super  Priapi  scapiim  fiova  luipta  seder e  jubebatur.'" 
(In  the  celebration  of  nuptials  the  newly  wed  bride 
used  to  be  bidden  sit  on  the  shaft  of  Priapus). 
Lactantius  gives  more  precise  details :  "  ef  Mutunns 
in  cujus  sinu  ptidendo  niibentes  prersident,  tit  illarnm 
pudicitiam     prius      deits      dclibasse     videatur^     (and 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  117 

Mutunus,  in  whose  shameful  lap  brides  sit,  in  order 
that  the  god  may  appear  to  have  gathered  the  first- 
fruits  of  their  virginity).  It  appears,  however,  that 
this  offering  was  not  merely  symbolical,  for  when  they 
had  become  wives,  they  used  to  return  to  the  favourite 
deity  to  pray  for  fecundity, 

Arnobius  also  relates:  "  etiam  7ie  Tuhmus,  cujus 
immanibus  pudendis,  horrentiqiic  /ascino,  vestras 
inequitare  viatronas  et  auspicabile  ducitis  ct  optatis  f" 
(is  it  Tutunus,  on  whose  huge  organs  and  BpurXiv/ 
TooX  you  think  it  an  auspicious  and  desirable  thing 
that  your  matrons  should  be  (jlovvts^}) 

Pertunda  was  another  hermaphrodite  divinity  that 
Saint  Augustine  maliciously  proposed  rather  to  name 
the  Deus  Pretmidus  (who  strikes  first) ;  it  was  carried 
on  to  the  nuptial  bed  to  aid  the  bridegroom.  "  Pcrtu7tda 
in  cubiculis  pra^sto  est  virgmalcm  scrobem  cffodicntibus 
maritis."  (Pertunda  stands  there  ready  in  the  bed- 
chamber for  the  aid  of  husbands  excavating  the 
(pipy IV  ttit)  (Arnobius). 

The  Kondadgis  (Ceylon),  the  Cambodgians  and  other 
peoples  charged  their  priests  with  the  defloration  of 
their  brides. 

Jager  communicated  to  the  Berlin  Anthropological 
Society  a  passage  from  Gemelli  Cancri,  which  mentions 
a  shipratio  offi,cialis  practised  at  a  certain  period  among 
the  Bisayos  of  the  Philippine  Islands :  "  There  is  no 
known  example  of  a  custom  so  barbarous  as  that  which 
had  been  there  established,  of  having  public  officials, 
and  even  paid  very  dearly,  to  take  the  virginity  of 
young  girls,  the  same  being  considered  to  be  an 
obstacle  to  the  pleasures  of  the  husband.  As  a  fact 
there  no  longer  exists  any  trace  of  this  infamous 
practice  since  the  establishment  of  the  Spanish  rule  .  .  . 


118  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

but  even  to-day  a  Bisayo  feels  vexed  to  find  his  wife 
safe  from  suspicion,  because  he  conckides,  that  not 
having  excited  the  desire  of  anyone,  she  must  have 
some  bad  quality  which  will  prevent  him  from  being 
happy  with  her." 

Influence  of  Chastity  on  Health.  ^     A  man  may 

kill  himself  by  excess  of  venereal  pleasure ;  as  he  may 
also  impose  upon  himself  an  absolute  continence.  But 
in  this  case  it  is  not  so  complete  as  might  be  supposed, 
the  nocturnal  pollutions  amounting  to  positive  copu- 
lations with  loss  of  semen  and  voluptuous  spasm.  A 
virgin  perfectly  pure  in  herself  may  even  experience 
in  dream  the  spasms  of  pleasure. 

Nevertheless,  voluntary  chastity  reduces  to  a  minimum 
the  secretion  of  sperm  and  of  venereal  desire ;  it  may 
even  cause  the  gradual  dying  out  of  these  wants,  which 
constitute  the  greatest  delights  and  also  the  greatest 
tyranny  of  humanity. 

It  must  be  recognised  to  what  a  degree  chastity 
favours  health,  longevity,  energy  of  intellect  and  of 
sentiment,  and  the  limits  beyond  which  it  ought  not 
to  extend  so  as  not  to  disturb  the  harmony  of  life 
dependant  on  the  regular  action  of  all  the  organs. 

It  seems  at  first  that  by  being  sparing  of  so  precious 
a  product  as  the  sperm  and  economising  the  strength 
expended  in  every  sexual  intercourse,  the  individual 
should  be  able  to  accumulate  an  important  reserve 
force;  but  this  is  only  partly  true,  and  it  is  difficult 
to  precise  the  amount  of  chastity  necessary  for  the 
maintenance  of  health. 

With  regard  to  man,  statistics  supply  us  with  no 
elements  for  solving  the  problem;  they  prove  on  the 
contrary    that    marriage    is    conducive    to   health   and 

'  From  Mantegazza,  Igiene  deW  Amore  (Milan,    1892). 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  119 

longevity,  but  here  we  have  only  a  comparison  between 
married  life  and  celibacy,  and  celibacy  is  not  always 
synonymous  with  chastity.  Bachelors  are,  very  often, 
the  worst  of  libertines.  But  if  we  could  meet  around 
us  a  dozen  of  men  really  chaste,  we  should  find 
them  superior  to  others  in  vigour,  in  longevity  and  in 
intellectual  energy.  I  think  also  that  priests  owe  the 
old  age  to  which  they  often  attain  to  their  chastity, 
admitting  at  the  same  time  that  their  minor  responsa- 
bility  and  the  ease  and  comfort  of  their  hves  are  also 
advantageous  to  their  health,  conceding  at  the  same 
time  to  malicious  persons  that  the  servants  of  God  are 
not  all  of  them  chaste. 

All  men,  particularly  the  young,  may  experience 
the  immediate  benefits  of  continence.  Blumenbach 
has  said  that  the  reabsorption  of  sperm  at  the  time  of 
their  loves  renders  animals  ferocious ;  but,  many  cen- 
turies before  him,  Aretaeus  said  that  the  sperm  made 
us  lively,  ardent  and  vigorous.  Martin  of  Lyons  relates 
the  case  of  a  man,  in  whom  the  spermatic  secretion 
having  become  suppressed,  he  used  to  have  sweatings 
having  the  smell  of  sperm,  accompanied  by  the  volup- 
tuous sensation  of  ejaculation.  We  leave  aside  this 
latter  question  of  the  voluptuous  sensation,  but  accept 
the  idea  of  the  sperm-smelling  sweat,  because  we  have 
ourselves  recognised  a  strong  odour  of  sperm  among 
very  chaste  but  very  ardent  young  men.  It  is  certain 
that  a  certain  part  of  the  semen  is  reabsorbed  and  strongly 
excites  the  muscles,  the  brain  and  the  nerves,  and  in 
the  second  part  of  my  book  will  be  seen  the  importance 
I  give  to  this  reabsorption  in  the  production  of  the  se- 
cundary  sexual  characters.  The  semen  accumulated 
for  a  long  time  in  the  spermatic  vesicles  constitutes  a 
real    reservoir  of  force,  which  may  reveal  itself  under 


120  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

the  most  varied  forms.  Memory  becomes  prompt  and 
tenacious,  thought  is  rapid  and  fecund,  the  will  is 
energetic  and  the  whole  character  shows  a  vigour 
quite  unknown  to  libertines. 

Some  sublime  egotists  had  soon  observed  that  their 
life  was  being  exhausted  in  the  pleasures  of  love,  and 
by  condemning  themselves  to  absolute  chastity  were 
able  to  preserve  unto  the  extremest  old  age  their 
ardent  enthusiasms,  their  juvenile  energies  and  a  life 
always  enjoyable.  No  magnifying  glass  enables  us  to 
see  the  celestial  blue  so  well  as  the  prism  of  chastity. 

It  is  perhaps  fortunate  for  the  future  of  humanity, 
that  we  cannot  put  into  balance,  on  the  one  hand  all 
the  voluptuous  spasms  of  a  life  spent  in  the  cult  of 
Venus,  and  on  the  other  all  the  harmonies,  all  the  joys 
and  all  the  poesy  of  a  chaste  life.  Everybody  would 
then  perhaps  be  chaste  and  the  world  would  perish. 

In  aU  books  of  history  and  of  morality,  thousands 
of  facts  are  met  with  which  show  that  in  all  times  and 
in  all  places,  man  has  sought  in  chastity  the  means 
to  double  his  forces  in  order  to  devote  them  to  higher 
purposes.  We  see  athletes  condemn  themselves  to 
continence,  warriors  preparing  for  the  fight  by  abstaining 
from  sexual  pleasure  and  many  religions  commanding 
their  priests  to  observe  celibacy  and  chastity.  A  fact 
less  known,  is  that  in  the  University  of  Paris,  during 
nearly  six  centuries,  no  married  men  could  be  admitted 
to  profess  in  any  of  the  faculties.  Before  granting 
the  licentiate  of  arts  the  chancellor  of  the  University 
required  the  oath:  Jurate  quod  non  estis  matrimona- 
liter  conjuncti  (Swear  that  ye  are  not  conjoined 
matrimonially),  and,  on  the  29th  April,  1566,  some 
married  men  having  contrived  to  introduce  themselves 
into    the    University    thanks    to    the    civil    wars,    the 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  121 

chancellor  had  them  expelled  and  the  rector  concluded 
his  sentence  of  exclusion  in  these  terms:  Unanimi 
omnium  consensu  ct  ore  commutii  vultis  puniejidos 
mulcta  cert^  primarios,  qui  in  eorum  collegio  admi- 
serunt  viros  uxoratos.  (By  the  unanimous  consent  of 
all  and  the  common  voice  ye  hereby  declare  those 
governors  should  be  punished  at  any  rate  with  a  fine, 
who  have  admitted  married  men  in  their  college). 

Considering  the  great  economy  of  force  resulting 
from  chastity,  many  persons  imagine  that  it  must  give 
an  unusual  energy  to  the  genital  organs.  This  is  true 
only  for  short  periods  of  chastity.  When  it  is  pro- 
longed, the  organs,  on  the  contrary,  are  weakened. 

Absolute  chastity  is  a  rare  exception  and  is  possible 
only  to  a  chosen  few;  but  a  temporary  chastity  is  to 
be  recommended  to  those  who,  at  certain  periods  of 
their  life,  have  to  spend  a  great  amount  of  intellectual 
power. 

Elements  of  Social  Science.  Chastity  has  also 
its  evils ;  but  they  have  been  exaggerated  by  several 
writers  and  specially  by  the  anonymous  author  of  the 
Elements  of  Social  Science.  He  who  reads  the  terrible 
case  of  the  cure  Blanchet,  who  wrote  such  harrowing 
letters  to  Buffon,  must  turn  pale  with  horror  at  the 
effects  of  absolute  chastity:  but  this  worthy  priest 
is  a  rare  exception.  At  the  utmost  there  are  a 
few  weeks  or  some  months  of  wrestling,  but  the 
victory  then  becomes  easy  and  certain.  First  of 
all  desire  becomes  excessive,  there  is  extreme  dis- 
quietude, sleepless  nights,  continuous  and  violent 
erections ;  then  all  calms  down  and  beneficial  nocturnal 
pollutions  supply  a  safety  valve.  It  is  true  that  in 
some    cases    there    is  headache,    vertigo,    but   this   is 


122  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

almost  always  when  chastity  comes  after  venereal 
abuse.  I  have  seen  many  individuals  without  force, 
stupified  or  paralysed  after  venereal  excesses,  I  could 
count  twenty  diseases  resulting  from  this  cause:  I  never 
saw  one  produced  solely  by  chastity. 

Women  support  it  much  better  than  men,  and  many 
cases  of  hysteria  said  to  have  been  produced  by 
unsatisfied    love    must    be    ascribed    to  another  cause. 

I  speak  of  virgins;  young  widows  may  prove 
an  exception,  particularly  when  they  have  other 
habits  and  are  voluptuous  by  nature.  They  may 
have  congestions  of  the  brain,  vertigos  and  divers 
forms  of  neuroses.  Habit  is  the  element  which  exercises 
the  greatest  influence  on  all  the  acts  commanded  by 
the  cerebro-spinal  axis,  and  this  truth  should  be  deeply 
meditated  by  those  not  over  vigorous  husbands,  who 
during  the  honeymoon,  from  self-conceit  or  by  the 
aid  of  momentary  excitation,  have  accustomed  their 
wives  to  a  regimen  they  are  unable  to  continue  to 
provide  them  later.  Putting  aside  "  women  of  ice  "  and 
"  women  of  fire  ",  who  are  exceptions,  the  others  become 
lascivious,  chaste  or  moderate,  according  to  what  their 
partners  design  them  to  be. 

Dr.  Verga  on  Celibacy.  Doctor  Verga,  a  remark- 
able author  and  philosopher,  has  well  studied  the 
influence  of  celibacy  and  of  marriage  on  insanity.  May 
I  be  permitted  to  briefly  give  the  substance  of  his 
interesting  researches  :  * 

"  It  is  generally  accepted  that  for  mental  as  well 
as   for   bodily   maladies,   the  efficient  and  determinant 

*  Prof.  Andrea  Verga,  Sj  le  Ce'libat  predispose  a  la  folie.  Milan, 
1869. — Si  le  Mariage  contribue  a  la  Folie,  Milan,    187 1. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  123 

causes    obtain    all    their   value   from  the  hereditary  or 
acquired  individual  predisposition. 

"  This  predisposition,  which  manifests  itself  usually 
in  infancy,  may  later  on  engender  an  aversion  or 
exterior  obstacles  to  marriage.  Som^  young  people, 
born  of  parents  cerebrally  affected,  having  themselves 
such  a  morbid  sensitiveness  that  they  feel  irritated  at 
the  least  contradiction,  I  might  almost  say  at  all 
opposition  to  their  will,  and  who  have  a  horror  of  any 
restriction  to  their  liberty,  understand  that  they  are 
not  made  for  marriage,  and  condemn  themselves 
voluntarily  to  celibacy ;  the  malady  which  threatens 
them  finds  them  naturally  inclined  to  a  single  life. 
For  it  must  be  remarked,  marriage  is  a  dignity  that 
requires  a  vocation  and  special  aptitudes;  it  is  the 
crowning  glory  of  the  individual.  Others  again,  even 
more  inclined  to  insanity,  but  less  persuaded  of  the 
danger,  or  having  fewer  scruples,  either  stimulated  by 
instinct  or  constrained  by  special  circumstances,  seek 
to  marry ;  but  certain  peculiarities,  certain  excentricities 
cause  families  and  young  girls  to  receive  them  very 
coldly.  Time  passes  and  at  last  insanity  manifests 
itself 

"  It  is  evident  that  in  such  cases  the  effect  of  celibacy 
is  merely  apparent.  All  those  bachelors  of  either  sex 
did  not  go  mad  because  they  were  unmarried,  but 
because  they  were  already  on  the  highroad  to  madness. 

"  You  may  tell  me  that  young  girls  are  in  far 
different  conditions  from  those  of  young  men ;  that 
they  do  not  choose,  but  are  chosen ;  that  their  parents 
more  easily  dispose  of  their  hand  and  willingly  allow 
them  to  go  away,  knowing  how  capricious  they  are 
and  how  difficult  to  govern;  all  that  is  very  true. 

"  But  that  is  precisely  what  must  render  the  proportion 


124    UNTRODDEN  FIELDS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

of  insanity  less  among  young  girls  and  also  less 
pronounced  among  married  women :  two  facts  entirely 
corroborated  by  statistics.  We  have  also  determined 
by  our  calculations  that  the  adult  female  insane 
unmarried  are  in  the  proportion  of  35.17  per  cent, 
whereas  the  bachelor  insane  amounted  to  64.83  per  cent, 
and  on  the  contrary  the  married  women  insane  were 
in  the  proportion  of  48.93  per  cent,  while  the  married 
men  insane  amounted  to  51.07  per  cent. 

"  It  is  with  insanity  as  with  epilepsy,  with  idiocy 
and  cretinism :  all  these  maladies  might  be  styled  the 
maladies  of  celibacy,  so  much  do  they  preponderate 
among  bachelors  of  both  sexes.  But,  if  we  except 
epilepsy,  which  sometimes  manifests  itself  late  in  life, 
idiotism  and  cretinism  are  essentially  peculiar  to  early 
youth.  Idiots  and  cretins  remain  children  all  their 
lives  and  never  acquire  the  matrimonial  capacity. 

"  From  which  it  follows  that  with  them  celibacy  is 
the  consequence  and  not  the  cause  of  their  infirmity." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Pen>ersions    of  the    sexual  passion    amongst   the  Negroes. —  The 
Negress  is  neither  a  Sodomite  nor  a  lesbian. — Parent- Duchdtelet 
on    '^Lesbian    Love". —  Tribads    despised   by  other  prostitutes. — 
Hoiv   the   vice   is  contracted.  —  The  strange  affection  of  Tribads. 
— Lawful    love    thought    shocking.— Pregnancy  frequent    among 
them.     — A    White  Messalina. — A    White  woman  violated  by  a 
Negro. —  Taylor    on    taping    adult    women.  —  Evidence    of  signs 
of  violence. —  Trick  of  a  Negro  to  get  a    White  women.  — A  little 
White  girl  deflowered'  bv  a  Negro. 

The  Negress  is  neither  a  Sodomite  nor  a  Les- 
bian. After  the  explanations  just  given,  as  to  the 
want  of  genital  sensitiveness  in  the  Negress,  it  would 
not  appear  strange  that  we  should  discover  few  cases 
of  erotic  perversion,  which  are  so  common  amongst 
Asiatic  people.  The  Negress  is  not  a  Lesbian,  although 
her  clitoris  is  well-developed.  Neither  is  she  a  sodom- 
ite, but,  on  the  contrary,  has  a  profound  aversion 
for  that  depraved  habit.  ^  The  reason  perhaps  is, 
that  when  practised  with  the  Negro's  yard,  anal  copula- 
tion would  be  a  real  torture, — a  kind  of  impalement. 
The  only  traces  of  sodomy  I  found,  were  amongst  the 
lowest  class  of  Black  women  of  Saint  Louis, — cheap 
prostitutes  of  the  worst  sort.  I  may  mention  par- 
ticularly   one    of   these   women,  who  was  still   young, 

'  See  Krafft-Ebing  on  tribadic  practices  among  European  "  fast  women  " 
— Psychopathia  Sexualis  (page  429). 


126  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF 

and  who  presented  a  notable  development  of  the 
buttocks,  with  a  deep  infundibulum,  a  sphincter  com- 
pletely relaxed,  and  an  orifice  so  considerably  dilated 
that  it  admitted  three  fingers  without  pain.  This 
woman  confessed  that  it  was  the  Whites  (Is  this  quite 
certain?)  who  practised  sodomy  upon  her,  and  that 
before  she  allowed  them  to  do  it,  she  demanded  in  ad- 
vance a  bottle  of  sangara,  which  she  drank  till  she 
was  dead  drunk,  and  in  this  way  she  felt  nothing,  or 
next  to  nothing. 

Parent-Duchatelet  on  "  Lesbian  Love."  While 
dealing  with  this  subject  we  think  it  not  inopportune  to 
contrast  the  careful  and  conscientious  study  of  this 
great  man  in  regard  to  the  prevalence  of  unnatural 
vice  amongst  Parisian  prostitutes  ^  and  the  causes  that 
originate  it.  "  I  cannot  refrain  here, "  he  says,  "  from 
treating  of  a  very  important  item  in  the  history  of  the 
habits  of  prostitutes,  but  I  am  forced  to  do  it  with  the 
utmost  reserve.  I  am  about  to  speak  of  those  loves 
which  a  depraved  taste  contrary  to  nature  impels  some 
prostitutes  to  seek  to  satisfy  among  members  of  their 
own  sex. 

"  These  disgusting  and  monstrous  marriages^  so  com- 
mon in  houses  of  correction,  that  but  very  few  female 
prisoners  can  escape  from  them,  are  they  as  frequent 
among  prostitutes  as  some  people  seem  to  think?  The 
following  are  the  details  on  that  subject  that  I  have 
been  able  to  collect  from  all  those  who  by  their  situa- 
tion were  able  to  make  observations. 

"  Regarding   the    number   of  prostitutes  addicted  to 

'  La  Prostitution  dans  la  Ville  de  Paris  consider^e  sous  le  Rapport 
de  I'Hygiene  Publique,  de  la  Morale  et  de  1' Administration  par  A.  J.  B. 
Parent  Duchatelet,   3eme  edit.  (Bailli^re  et  Fils,  Paris,    1857). 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  127 

this  vice,  I  have  found  an  extreme  difference  of  opin- 
ion :  there  are  some  who  pretend  that  all  or  nearly 
all  of  them  abandon  themselves  passionately  to  it ;  others 
on  the  contrary  have  assured  me  that  very  few  are 
given  to  it.  This  contradictory  opinion  was  based  with 
the  former,  not  with  the  latter,  solely  upon  a  vague  sup- 
position, on  some  flying  reports,  gathered  by  chance 
here  and  there,  and  not  upon  a  careful  study  of  the 
question,  destined  to  elucidate  it,  and  having  for  basis 
a  certain  number  of  observations. 

"  This  contradiction  can  be  in  great  part  explained  by 
the  fact  that  none  of  these  women  will  ever  admit  of 
being  addicted  to  this  vice,  for  when  they  are  ques- 
tioned, they  reply  quickly  and  with  impatience :  /  am 
for  men  only,  and  I  never  was  for  women.  AU  the 
persons  who  have  been  enabled  to  study  them  at  all 
moments  of  their  life,  and  particularly  in  hospitals  and 
prisons,  have  assured  me  that  they  are  absolutely  silent 
on  that  subject ;  that  they  are  as  ashamed  of  this  vice 
for  themselves  as  they  are  ashamed  for  their  comrades 
who  are  given  to  it ;  those  only  in  prison,  who  are  really 
guilty,  do  not  hesitate  to  shew  themselves  in  their 
true  light, 

Tribads  despised  by  other  Prostitutes.  Generally 
speaking,  tribads,  for  that  is  the  name  given  to  these 
women  addicted  to  unnatural  practices,  are  despised 
and  looked  down  upon  by  the  other  prostitutes ;  indeed 
to  some  of  these  they  inspire  a  sort  of  iiorror  which 
impels  them  to  fly  from  and  avoid  them.  During  the 
moments  of  coming  together  and  of  conversation  in 
prison  they  are  not  spared  reproaches  and  jeers,  but 
always  in  covered  words;  and  even  in  their  disputes, 
when  they  abuse  each  other  in  the  coarsest  language, 


128  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

they  still  preserve  a  certain  restraint  on  that  point. 
Jealousy  alone  or  the  wish  for  revenge  can  induce 
them  sometimes  to  denounce  each  other,  but  that  is 
rarely  observed. 

A  woman  who  kept  a  house  of  prostitution,  and 
who  was  addicted  to  this  vice,  had  received  into  her 
establishment  a  very  pretty  girl  whom  she  wished  to 
attach  to  herself;  but  the  girl  quitted  the  place  solely 
for  that  reason,  regretting  at  the  same  time,  she  said, 
the  well-being  and  comforts  of  all  kinds  with  which 
her  mistress  surrounded  her. 

A  girl  of  low  degree,  while  in  a  state  bordering 
upon  intoxication,  wishing  to  do  violence  to  one  of 
her  comrades  who  refused  to  comply  with  her  desires, 
caused  such  a  disturbance  in  the  house  that  the  police 
had  to  interfere.  All  the  women  attached  to  the  brothel 
denounced  her  to  the  commissary  of  police  as  guilty 
of  a  criminal  assault. 

How^  the  Vice  is  contracted.  Some  persons  who 
have  given  me  infonnation  on  the  subject,  are  of 
opinion  that  it  is  mostly  with  women  keeping  brothels 
that  prostitutes  contract  the  vice  here  in  question,  which 
may  be  attributed  to  the  abundant  food  supplied  to 
them,  the  idle  life  they  lead  and  the  conversations  they 
hold  with  each  other;  but  a  crowd  of  other  details 
tend  to  convince  me  that,  if  such  conditions  are  not 
without  influence,  they  act  only  upon  a  very  small 
number,  and  the  origin  of  these  depraved  tastes  must 
be  sought  for  elsewhere. 

An  observation  made  and  repeated  in  the  interior 
of  a  prison,  the  only  place  where  it  is  possible  to 
properly  study  certain  tastes  and  inclinations  which 
dominate  among  prostitutes,  has  proved  that  nearly  all 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  129 

the  tribads  belonged  to  the  class  of  independent  prosti- 
tutes (not  attached  to  licensed  brothels),  and  also  that 
those  who  made  themselves  remarked  by  their  tendency 
to  pervert  the  others,  had  invariably  passed  some  years 
inside  of  prisons.  ^ 

Who  does  not  know,  in  fact,  that  it  is  in  the 
prisons,  and  more  especially  in  the  prisons  for  women, 
that  these  shameful  vices  most  generally  prevail,  and 
there  are  but  few  female  prisoners  who  can  resist, 
particularly  if  their  detention  extends  over  more  than 
eighteen  months  or  two  years.  It  is  towards  the  age 
of  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  years  that  prostitutes 
usually  take  to  this  sort  of  libertinism,  and  after  having 
already  plied  their  trade  during  six,  eight  or  ten  years, 
unless  they  have  passed  some  time  in  prison.  If  at 
times  there  are  found  young  women  novices  in  the 
business  of  prostitution  who  show  similar  inclinations,  it 
is  not  that  they  were  naturally  impelled  to  it,  but  that 
they  are  more  properly  to  be  considered  as  the  victims 
of  others  who  have  led  them  astray.  There  are  but 
few  old  prostitutes  who  may  not  be  ranked  among 
the  tribads;  they  at  last  come  to  have  a  horror  of 
men,  and  to  become  the  associates  of  thieves  and  of 
all  that  is  most  abject  and  most  crapulous. 

*  It  is  in  fact  in  prison,  that  women  most  often  contract  this  shameful  vice. 
Nearly  all  youn^j  girls,  who  remain  some  time  in  prison,  are  contaminated  with 
it ;  this  and  other  considerations,  show  the  necessity  of  the  cellular  system. 

The  terms  of  the  Regulations  of  1824  mentioned  by  Parent-Duchatelet 
are  strictly  observed,  and  the  licensed  houses  are  visited  at  night  by 
the  police  to  see  that  they  are  executed.  But  notwithsUinding  these 
precautions,  corruption  has  progressed,  and  there  are  now  but  few 
prostitutes  that  are  not  tainted  with  it.  How  can  it  be  otherwise,  seeing 
that  these  unfortunate  creatures  meet  only  with  contumely,  humiliation 
and  insult  from  men,  who  are  often  the  very  first  to  excite  them  to 
practise  a  vice  which  ought  rather  be  to  them  a  subject  of  horror. 


130  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  there  is  often  a  con- 
siderable disproportion  of  age  and  of  charm  between 
two  women  who  conjoin  in  this  manner;  and  what  is 
likely  to  surprise,  is,  that,  once  the  intimacy  established, 
it  is  usually  the  younger  and  prettier  who  shows  the 
greater  attachment  and  more  passionate  love  to  the  other. 

The  Strange  Affection  of  Tribads.  Whence  comes 
this  attachment,  and  how  are  these  liaisons  formed? 
I  was  able  to  procure  in  a  prison  communication  of 
the  correspondence  between  these  tribads ;  I  invariably 
found  it  romantic,  full  of  the  usual  expressions  employed 
by  lovers,  and  evidencing  throughout  a  much  exalted 
imagination.  The  most  curious  specimen  of  the  kind 
that  I  saw,  was  a  series  of  letters  addressed  by  one 
prisoner  to  another;  the  first  of  these  was  a  declaration 
of  love,  but  the  style  of  which  was  veiled,  covered, 
and  extremely  reserved ;  the  second  was  more  ex- 
pansive ;  the  last  ones  expressed  in  burning  terms  the 
most  violent  and  unbridled  passion. 

In  most  cases  the  want  of  education  excludes  the 
manner  of  communication  peculiar  to  cultivated  minds ; 
it  is  by  caresses,  care,  attentions,  kindnesses  of  all 
sorts,  that  the  superannuated  and  sometimes  even  old 
prostitutes  manage  to  seduce  quite  young  girls,  and 
succeed  in  attaching  them  to  themselves  in  a  really 
most  astonishing  manner.  These  old  dames  are  then 
seen  to  work  with  extreme  ardour  in  order  to  augment 
their  gains  and  be  able  to  make  presents  to  those  whom 
they  want  to  seduce ;  they  offer  to  do  work  for  shops, 
and  use  all  the  powers  that  the  art  of  seduction  can 
suggest  to  them,  to  compensate  by  peculiar  and  artificial 
qualities,  what  in  them  is  deficient,  and  which  might 
tend  to  inspire  aversion. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  131 

When  such  liaisons  are  established  they  present 
certain  curious  pecuHarities  which  we  will  now  en- 
deavour to  unveil. 

With  prostitutes  the  loss  of  a  lover  of  the  same  sex 
is  far  diiferent  from  the  abandonment  by  a  lover  of 
the  opposite  sex.  In  the  latter  case,  consolation  is 
quickly  found,  another  is  soon  met  with  who  will 
cause  the  unfaithful  one  to  be  forgotten.  But  what  a 
difference  with  the  others!  In  fact  their  attachment 
approaches  more  to  frenzy  than  to  love :  they  are 
tormented  by  jealousy,  and  the  dread  of  being  sup- 
planted and  of  thereby  losing  the  object  of  their  affec- 
tions, makes  them  never  quit  each  other,  but  watch 
each  other's  footsteps;  they  get  run  in  for  the  same 
offences,  and  manage  to  quit  the  house  of  correction 
at  the  same  time. 

When  they  are  taken  to  prison,  supposing  they  are 
purposely  placed  in  separate  dormitories,  there  is  no  end 
to  their  observations,  child-like  complaints,  cries  and 
howls ;  they  play  all  sorts  of  tricks  so  as  to  rejoin  those 
from  whom  they  would  not  be  separated ;  they  simulate 
illness  so  as  to  be  sent  to  the  infirmary,  some  indeed 
have  been  known,  in  that  intention,  to  inflict  very 
serious  wounds  upon  themselves.  Some  of  them,  more 
cunning  than  all  the  others,  and  consummate  mistresses 
of  all  the  tricks  of  their  trade,  have  applied  to 
certain  parts  of  their  genital  organs  little  pieces  of 
caustic  potash,  by  means  of  which  were  produced 
slight  ulcerations  so  closely  resembling  venereal  chancres 
that  the  most  experienced  surgeon  might  be  misled. 
They  have  most  of  them  a  wonderful  talent  to  simu- 
late the  itch,  which  they  accomplish  by  pricking  the 
parts,  where  that  eruption  usually  shows  itself,  with  a 
needle  made  red  hot. 


132  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

The  abandonment  of  a  tribad  by  the  object  of  her 
affection  becomes  in  a  prison  a  circumstance  requiring 
the  closest  vigilance  on  the  part  of  the  warders  ; 
the  woman  who  has  been  abandoned  is  decided 
to  take  a  striking  revenge  on  the  unfaithful  one,  as 
also  on  the  other  who  has  supplanted  her;  hence 
real  duels  in  which  the  combatants  employ  as  weap- 
ons the  basins  in  which  the  food  is  served,  and 
sometimes  even  with  knives ;  but  the  instrument  most 
frequently  made  use  of  in  these  single  combats  is  the 
hair-comb.  This  often  causes  very  serious  wounds, 
mortal  results  have  even  been  several  times  observed. 
Formerly  such  duels  were  of  frequent  occurrence  in 
the  prison  of  La  Force,  ^  and  the  governor,  M.  Chef- 
deville,  whenever  he  became  cognizant  of  any  infidelities 
of  that  kind,  used  to  write  to  the  Prefect  of  Police,  for 
the  authorisation  to  put  into  a  separate  place  the  woman 
who  had  thus  become  an  object  of  hatred  to  another. 

This  hatred  and  rage  among  such  excitable  beings 
as  prostitutes  cannot  last  very  long;  her  vengeance 
once  sated,  the  abandoned  woman  seeks  to  bring  back 
to  her  the  unfaithful  one,  in  which  she  sometimes 
succeeds;  or  if  her  efforts  are  useless,  she  attempts 
new  conquests,  and  plies  again  her  pernicious  talents. 

Lawful  Love  thought  Shocking.  There  is,  however, 
one  case,  which  in  itself  is  absolutely  unpardonable, 
and  demands  perpetual  revenge ;  that  is  when  a  woman 
quits  another  to  attach  herself  to  a  man  whom  she 
makes  her  lover.  This  crime,  we  repeat,  is  one  that  is 
never   to    be   forgiven.     Nothing   can    cause   it   to    be 

*  This  prison  was  demolished  a  great  many  years  ago.  All  female 
delinquents  are  now  sent  to  the  prison  of  Saint-Lazare,  specially  destined 
for  women.     (Trans.). 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  133 

forgotten.  Woe  to  her  who  has  thus  sinned !  for, 
if  she  is  not  the  stronger  of  the  two,  she  is  sure  to 
get  a  beating  every  time  she  meets  the  other  who 
thinks  she  has  the  right  to  reproach  against  her  the 
most  outrageous  affront  that  a  prostitute  can  receive. 
This  vengeance  of  a  tribad  who  has  been  abandoned, 
under  the  circumstances  above  alluded  to,  presents  a 
remarkable  particularity,  which  is,  that  in  such  a  case 
the  other  prostitutes  never  interfere,  by  offering  their 
friendly  offices  to  endeavour  to  separate  the  cotnbatants, 
which  they  never  fail  to  do  in  cases  of  ordinary  dis- 
putes. But  in  the  cases  in  point,  they  look  on  with 
indifference,  and  allow  the  quarrel  to  be  settled  as  it 
may.  Does  this  manner  of  acting  result  from  any 
agreement  or  rule  among  themselves?  or  is  it  motived 
by  the  contempt  they  entertain  for  creatures  who,  by 
the  excess  of  their  infamy,  have  plunged  themselves 
even  below  their  own  level  ?  We  are  inclined  to  adopt 
the  latter  explanation,  but  without  maintaining  that  it 
is  the  more  exact. 

Pregnancy  frequent  among  them.  Several  in- 
spectors and  some  former  warders  of  prisons,  have 
informed  us  that  pregnancy  is  more  frequently  met 
with  in  tribads  than  among  other  prostitutes  who  have 
not  yet  contracted  this  foul  taste.  This  may  be  under- 
stood and  to  a  certain  extent  explained.  The  same 
witnesses  have  also  remarked  that  in  these  cases  the 
pregnancy  became  the  subject  of  jokes  and  of  inuendoes 
throughout  the  prison,  and  that  she  w^ho  presented 
those  symptoms  was  not  the  object  of  the  particular 
care  and  attention  which  the  imprisoned  prostitutes  are 
ready  to  show  to  their  comrades  who  may  happen  to 
be  in  that  situation. 


134  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS   OF 

It  may  therefore  be  taken  for  granted  that  tribads  have 
come  to  the  lowest  stage  of  vice  to  which  a  human 
creature  can  descend,  and  that,  for  that  very  reason, 
they  require  to  be  more  specially  looked  after  by  those 
who  are  charged  with  the  supervision  of  prostitutes, 
but  more  particularly  by  those  to  whom  is  confided 
the  direction  of  the  prisons  destined  to  receive  these 
women. 

The  attention  of  the  authorities  has  at  various  times 
been  drawn  to  these  unfortunates.  For  instance,  in  the 
police  regulations  of  1824,  the  keepers  of  brothels  are 
expressly  forbidden  to  allow  any  of  their  women  to 
sleep  two  in  the  same  bed,  ^  and  when  on  inspection 
at  night  any  infraction  of  this  regulation  was  noticed, 
the  two  delinquents  were  punished  with  several  days 
imprisonment;  the  same  severity  is  meted  out  to  fi'ee 
prostitutes  who  are  found  in  the  same  condition ;  lastly 
the  license  was  withdrawn  from  a  woman  keeper  of  a 
brothel,  because  she  was  found  in  bed  with  one  of  her 
boarders. 

In  summing  up  these  details,  in  considering  the 
circumstances  which,  among  prostitutes,  contribute  to 
develop  these  infamous  proclivities,  in  studying  at  what 
age  this  vice  generally  begins  to  develop  itself  among 
them,  taking  also  into  consideration  the  limited  number 
of  prostitutes  who  continue  their  trade  more  than  two 
or  three  years;  finally,  seeing  how  the  tribads  are 
treated,  and  despised  by  those  who  have  not  yet 
followed  their  example,  it  may  be  concluded  that  the 
number  of  those  who  have  descended  to  the  lowest 
stage  of  vice  is  far  more  limited  than  certain  persons 
have  asserted,  and  that  it  is  impossible  to  say  what 
is   the  exact   proportion  in    which   they   stand  to   the 

'  These  regulations  are  still  in  force. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  135 

Others,  but  with  some  approximation  to  the  truth  it  may 
be  said  that  they  do  not  constitute  one  fourth  of  the 
prostitutes  actually  plying  their  trade  in  the  city  of  Paris. 
The  above  details  show  how  important  it  is  that 
those  who  are  charged  to  maintain  order  and  good 
morals  should  know  in  their  least  particularities  the 
customs  and  habits  of  prostitutes. 

Masturbation  and  Pederasty  very  rare  amongst 
the  Blacks.  The  free  Negro  is  neither  a  sodomite 
nor  a  pederast.  He  even  masturbates  very  little. 
Besides,  the  rubbing  of  the  hand  on  the  slightly  sen- 
sitive mucous  surface  of  the  circumcised  gland  would 
require  a  much  longer  time  than  in  copulation  before 
it  produced  emission.  The  uncircumcised  Negro  boy 
masturbates,  by  pulling  the  foreskin  which  he  elongates 
considerably.  But,  when  once  he  is  circumcised,  he 
considers  it  almost  a  disgrace  to  masturbate,  for  there 
are  plenty  of  women  with  whom  to  satisfy  his  sexual 
needs.  It  is  not  the  same  with  the  slave,  who,  whether 
circumcised  or  not,  has  fewer  facilities  for  copulation 
than  the  free  Negro,  and  amongst  the  slaves  we 
find,  what  we  always  find  in  collections  of  human 
beings  when  the  female  element  is  wanting.  There 
is  an  exchange  of  reciprocal  pederasty,  and  each  is 
active  and  passive  in  turn.  At  least,  that  was  the 
result  of  a  medical  examination  I  made,  of  two  young 
Bambara  Sharpshooters,  who  came  fi'om  the  station  at 
Kita,  where  they  had  been  set  at  liberty  after  the 
capture  of  a  batch  of  slaves  belonging  to  the  Sarrak- 
holais  caravan  men.  They  enlisted  at  an  early  age, 
before  they  were  twenty  years  of  age.  They  con- 
fessed to  me  that,  amongst  the  captives  and  slaves, 
pederastic   practices   were  carried  on. 


136  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

Dr.  Paul  Moreau  (of  Tours),  cites  a  remarkable 
case  which  has  some  bearing  on  the  lascivious  woman 
alluded  to,  showing  that  these  erotic  proclivities  are 
strictly  speaking  congenital.  A  little  girl  not  yet  three 
years  old,  lying  down  on  the  floor  or  leaning  with 
force  against  a  piece  of  furniture,  used  to  agitate  her 
body  with  singular  violence.  Her  parents  at  first  saw 
in  this  only  play;  but  recognising  with  pain  that  it 
proceeded  from  a  sort  of  libertinism,  they  endeavoured 
carefully  to  correct  so  unfortunate  a  habit,  employing 
alternately  caresses  and  prayers,  or  threats  and  shame, 
and  lastly  punishment:  they  seemed,  however,  in  no 
wise  to  succeed. 

The  child  grew  up  and  the  evil  increased  to  such 
a  degree  that  at  table,  in  company,  in  church,  at  sight 
of  an  agreeable  object,  she  gave  herself  up  in  all  pos- 
sible ways  to  these  manoeuvres,  which  were  followed 
by  copious  ejaculation.  On  being  questioned  as  to  the 
moment  when  her  paroxym  was  about  to  take  place, 
she  remained  silent  or  else  admitted  she  experienced 
great  pleasure.  At  the  moment  of  her  crises  she  seemed 
to  have  almost  entirely  lost  all  sense  of  sight  and  of 
hearing.  The  threats  and  reprimands  of  her  parents 
had  the  effect  of  making  her  abstain  from  giving  way 
in  their  presence  at  least  to  her  unhappy  propensity ; 
but,  nevertheless,  she  sought  for  solitude  in  order 
to  satisfy  it:  and  often  was  she  found  exhausted  and 
drowsy. 

Nothing  could  stop  this  excess  of  lasciviousness ;  a 
physician  was  called  in  whose  advice  was  without 
effect.  Her  parents  then  decided  to  marry  her,  and 
fixed  their  choice  upon  a  very  vigorous  man.  She 
became  enceinte,  and  from  that  moment  was  exempt 
from    her    infirmity ;    but    she   always  came  out  of  the 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  137 

most  frequently  repeated  amorous  assaults,  fatigued  but 
not  satiated. 

At  last,  her  accouchement  having  been  very  labori- 
ous, she  died  under  it.  Her  clitoris  was  of  the  size 
of  a  penis.  The  period  of  her  greatest  salacity  lasted 
from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  spring,  and  during 
the  whole  of  that  time  the  patient  exhaled  the  smell 
of  a  male-goat. 

This   lubricity  was  it  seems  heriditary.  * 

A  White  Messalina.  This  unfortunate  woman  made 
her  husband  ill  by  excessive  copulation.  I  was  obliged 
to  send  him  to  the  hospital,  to  give  him  a  little  rest. 

Being  left  alone  in  a  small  lodging,  not  far  from 
the  Negro  quarter,  in  the  North  part  of  the  town,  she 
soon  began  to  misconduct  herself  in  a  most  scandalous 
manner.  In  the  middle  of  the  day,  in  the  hottest 
hours,  when  you  are  sure  not  to  find  either  a  White 
man  or  a  Creole  in  the  street,  she  would  sit,  half 
naked,  at  her  window,  and  make  signs  to  any  Negro 
who  was  passing.  They  came,  at  first  singly,  then  by 
twos,  by  threes,  and  finally  in  parties,  and  all  in  turn 
assuaged  their  brutal  passions  upon  her.  They  had 
never  had  such  a  good  time.  The  scandal  became  so 
great  that  it  reached  the  ears  of  her  husband,  and  he 
obtained  from  the  authorities  permission  to  shut  up 
his  wife  in  the  hospital.  Ill  she  really  was,  for  her 
erotic  excesses  had  produced  a  severe  aifection  of  the 
womb,  ^ 

Moreau,  says  KrafFt-Ebing,  considers  these  cases 
peculiar   to   themselves,    but  he   is   certainly   in   error. 

*  Ephe'mirides   des  curieux  de  la  nature. 

'  Refer,  for  the  imaginative  side,  to  Burton's  "Nights"  (Vol.  I,  Benares 
edit.)     "The  tale  of  the  Ensorcelled  Prince." 


138  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF 

The  sexual  complex  us  of  symptoms  is  always  but  the 
partial  manifestation  of  a  general  psychosis  (mania, 
hallucinatory  insanity?). 

The  essential  element  of  the  state  of  sexual  excite- 
ment is  a  condition  of  psychical  hypersesthesia  with 
involvement  of  the  sexual  sphere.  The  imagination 
calls  up  only  sexual  images,  which  may  lead  to 
hallucinations,  illusions,  and  true  hallucinatory  delirium. 

The  most  indifferent  ideas  excite  sensual  association, 
and  the  lustful  colouring  of  the  ideas  and  apperceptions 
is  very  much  intensified. 

The  abnormal  state  of  consciousness  implicates  the 
whole  course  of  feeling  and  desire,  and  is  accompanied 
by  general  physical  excitement  like  that  which  accom- 
panies coitus. 

Giraud  (Annal.  m^d.  psychoid  has  reported  a  case 
of  rape  of  a  little  girl  by  a  religious  paranoiac,  aged 
43,  who  was  temporarily  erotic.  Here,  also,  belongs 
a  case  of  incest  (Liman,  Vierteljahrsschr.  f.  ger.  Med) 

M.  impregnated  his  daughter.  His  wife,  mother  of  eighteen  children, 
and  herself  pregnant  by  her  husband,  lodged  the  complaint.  M.  had 
had  religious  paranoia  for  two  years.  "It  was  revealed  to  me  that  I 
should  beget  the  Eternal  Son  with  my  daughter.  Then  a  man  of  flesh 
and  blood  would  arise  by  my  faith,  who  would  be  eighteen  hundred 
years  old.  He  would  be  a  bridge  between  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments." This  command,  which  he  deemed  divine,  was  the  cause  of 
his  insane  act. 

Sexual  acts  that  have  a  pathological  motive  some- 
times occur  in  persecutory  paranoia. 

A  married  woman  of  thirty  had,  by  means  of  money  and  sweet- 
meats, enticed  a  boy  of  five,  who  played  near  her,  handled  his  genitals, 
and  then  attempted  coitus.  She  was  a  teacher,  who  had  been  betrayed 
and  then  cast  off.  Previously  moral,  for  some  time  she  had  given 
herself  to  prostitution.  The  explanation  of  her  immoral  change  was 
given,  when  it  was  found  that  she  had  various  delusions  of  persecution, 
and    thought    she    was    under    the  secret  influence  of  her  seducer,  who 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  139 

impelled  her  to  sexual  acts.  She  also  believed  that  the  boy  had  been 
put  in  her  way  by  her  seducer.  Coarse  sensuality  as  a  motive  for  her 
crime  came  less  into  consideration,  as  it  would  have  been  easy  for  her 
to  satisfy  sexUal  desire  in  a  natural  way. 

(Kussner,  Berl.  Klin.    Woe  hens  chri/t.) 

Cullere  ("Perversions  sexuelles  chez  les  persecutes, " 
in  A?inal.  me'dico-psychol.,  March,  1886)  has  reported 
similar  cases,  the  case  of  a  patient  who,  suffering  with 
paranoia  sexualis  persecutoria,  tried  to  violate  his 
sister,  giving  as  a  reason  that  the  impulse  was  given 
him  by  Bonapartists. 

In  hysteria  the  sexual  life  is  very  frequently  ab- 
normal; indeed,  always  in  predisposed  individuals. 
All  the  possible  anomalies  of  the  sexual  function  may 
occur  here,  with  sudden  changes  and  peculiar  activity ; 
and,  on  an  hereditary  degenerate  basis  and  in  moral 
imbecility,  they  may  appear  in  the  most  perverse 
forms.  The  abnormal  change  and  inversion  of  the 
sexual  feeling  are  never  without  effect  upon  .  the 
patient's  disposition. 

The  following  case,  reported  by  Giraud,  is  one  of 
this  nature  worthy  of  repetition : — 

Marian  L.,  of  Bordeaux.  At  night,  while  the  house- 
hold was  asleep  under  the  influence  of  narcotics  vshe 
had  administered,  she  had  given  the  children  of  the 
house  to  her  lover  for  sexual  enjoyment,  and  had 
looked  on  at  the  immoral  acts.  It  was  found  that  L. 
was  hysterical  (hemianaesthesia  and  convulsive  attacks), 
but  before  her  illness  she  had  been  a  moral,  trustworthy 
person.  Since  her  illness  she  had  become  a  shameless 
prostitute,  and  lost  all  moral  sense. 

In  the  hysterical  the  sexual  sphere  is  often  abnor- 
mally excited.  This  excitement  may  be  intermittent 
(menstrual?).     Shameless   prostitution,  even  in  married 


140  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF 

women,  may  result.  In  a  milder  form  the  sexual 
impulse  expresses  itself  in  onanism,  going  about  in  a 
room  naked,  smearing  the  person  with  urine  and  other 
things,  or  wearing  male  attire,  etc, 

Schiile  {Klin.  Psychiatric,  1886,  p.  237)  finds  very 
frequently  an  abnormally  intense  sexual  impulse  "  which 
disposes  girls,  and  even  women  living  in  happy  mar- 
riage, to  become  Messalinas." 

The  author  cited  knows  cases  in  which,  on  the 
wedding-journey,  attempts  at  flight  with  men,  who 
had  been  accidentally  met,  were  made ;  and  respected 
wives  who  entered  into  liaisons,  and  sacrificed  every- 
thing to  their  insatiable  impulse. 

In  hysterical  insanity  the  abnormally  intense  sexual 
impulse  may  express  itself  in  delusions  of  jealousy, 
unfounded  accusations  against  men  for  immoral  acts,  * 
hallucinations  of  coitus,  ^  etc. 

Occasionally  frigidity  may  occur,  with  absence  of 
lustful  feeling, — due,  for  the  most  part,  to  genital 
anaesthesia. 

A    White    Woman    violated   by   a   Negro.    A 

Frenchwoman,  of  whom  I  have  previously  spoken, 
Mme  D***,  was  the  victim  of  a  horrible  outrage. 
During  the  epidemic  of  yellow  fever,  she  had  lost 
both  her  husband  and  her  son.  I  attended  them,  but 
I  could  not,  in  spite  of  all  my  efforts,  persuade  her, 
when   she   fell  ill   in    her   turn,    to   enter  the  hospital, 

'  Vide  Fall  Merlac,  in  the  author's  Lehrb.  d.  ger.  Psychopathol.,  2. 
Aiifl.,  p.  222. — Morel,  Traite's  dcs  maladies  mentales,  p.  6Sy. — Legrand, 
La  folic,  p.  337-  Process  La  Ronciere,  in  Annal.  d'hyg.,  ieS6rie,  IV; 
3e  Serie,  XXII. 

*  The  incubus  in  the  witch-trials  of  the  Middle  Ages  depended  on 
them. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  141 

which  was  already  crowded.  Her  house  and  mine 
were  both  in  the  Negro  quarter.  She  had  no  one  to 
assist  her  but  Negresses,  whose  attentions  are  well 
meant  but  not  very  useful.  I  had  no  hope  of  saving 
her,  and  one  day  diagnosed  that  she  would  die  in  the 
course  of  the  night.  I  told  a  Negress,  her  neighbour 
and  servant,  to  attend  to  her  as  usual,  but  to  leave 
her  quiet  if  she  did  not  ask  for  anything. 

Being   on    duty,    and   obliged    to    pass    the  night  at 
the    hospital,    I    could    not    return    until  the  following 
morning.     Mme  D***  was  dead.     The  Negress  thought 
she    was    dead  at  about  three  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
and  had  then  left  the  house,  after  having  covered  the 
body    with    a    sheet;    when    she    came    again    in    the 
morning   at   seven    o'clock,    a   little   before    I  did,  she 
had    found   the  sheet  on  the  ground,  and  the  body  of 
Mme    D***    lying   across   the   bed,    unth   the   chemise 
removed.     The  Negress  declared  that  she  had  shut  the 
door,  to  prevent  any  animals  entering,   but  one  of  the 
windows    was  open ;  the  house  was  of  only  one  floor. 
I   saw    at  the    first    glance,    that   the  face  of  the  dead 
woman    presented   a   peculiar   appearance   of  suffering 
and    horror.     The  body  bore  on  the  breasts  marks  of 
bites,  and  large  bruises.     The  nipple  of  the  left  breast 
was    almost    completely  torn  off.     Serious  injuries  had 
been    done    to   the    genital    organs.     These   were  well 
formed,  the  clitoris  of  a  normal  size,  but  the  vulva  was 
widely  open.     The  great  lips  were  parted,  showing  the 
vagina   gaping.     You    could  not  distinguish  any  trace 
of  the  myrtiform  caroncula,  the  fork,  the  navel  pit,  or 
the    vestibule.     The    entrance  to  the  womb,  distended 
to   such   an   extent  as  to  admit  a  child's  hand,  was  in 
place,    but    the    mucous    surface    of   the    passage  was 
hanging  down,  as  it  is  in  the  case  of  women  who  have 


142  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF 

had  a  great  number  of  children,  or  who  frequently 
indulge  in  copulation.  The  finger  met  with  clots  of 
blood,  which  obstructed  the  bottom  of  the  wound,  and 
I  could  feel  that  the  "  tench's  nose  "  had  lost  its  usual 
power  of  resistance,  and  could  be  pushed  back.  The 
whole  genital  apparatus  had  the  appearance  of  having 
been  pounded,  with  a  hard  wooden  pestle.  There  was 
not  the  slightest  doubt  in  my  mind,  but  that  Mme 
D***  had  been  violated  before  her  death.  The  Negress 
servant  had  left  early,  in  order  not  to  be  present  at 
her  death,  and  a  Toucouleur  burglar  (perhaps  even 
several — unless  it  was  the  neighbours)  had  entered  the 
chamber  of  the  unfortunate  woman,  and  outraged  her. 
It  is  very  probable  that  the  poor  woman,  so  martyred, 
had  recovered  consciousness  before  dying;  from  the 
expression  of  the  face  this  might  be  guessed  at  all 
events.  Mme  D***'s  house  was  rather  removed  from 
the  others,  and  near  the  bank  of  the  river.  The 
neighbours  had  heard  nothing,  and  their  dogs  had  not 
barked,  or  at  least  not  more  than  usual.  An  enquiry 
discovered  nothing,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  general 
confusion,  which  the  yellow  fever  had  created  throughout 
the  entire  colony  of  Saint  Louis,  the  tragical  end  of 
Mme  D***  passed  unnoticed.  ^ 

Taylor  on  Raping  Adult  Women.  In  this  case 
we    have,    of  course,    a    woman    in    a  weak  or  rather 

'  For  a  similar  case  that  occurred  to  the  Cantiniere  of  a  French 
regiment  during  the  occupation  under  the  Second  Empire,  see  the 
realistic  story  of  my  friend  M.  Hector  France,  La  Vache  enrage'e,  which 
appeared,  together  with  other  tales,  some  years  ago  in  Le  Rcveil,  under, 
the  general  title  of  Muse,  Haschish  et  Sang.  The  present  editor  has 
in  hand,  we  understand,  an  English  edition  of  these  stories.  Sir  Rich. 
F.  Burton  refers  to  this  work  in  very  high  terms  in  one  of  his  notes 
to  the  ''Nights." 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  143 

helpless  condition.  Mention  has  often  been  made  of 
the  possibility  of  committing  rape  on  adult  women  in 
a  good  state  of  health  and  possessing  normal  strength. 
Napoleon,  in  an  anecdote  recounting  the  story  of  the 
woman  who  came  in  tears  to  him  with  a  complaint 
of  having  been  violated  by  one  of  his  soldiers,  is  said 
to  have  drawn  his  sword  and  wriggled  the  empty 
scabbard  before  her  face  in  demonstration  of  the 
absurdity  of  her  tale  unless  she  had  been  a  consenting 
party.  This  incident  is  also  related  as  having  taken 
place  between  Queen  Elizabeth  (of  England)  and  one 
of  her  waiting-women  who  complained  of  a  courtier; 
and  we  are  more  inclined  to  believe  it  emanated  from 
a  woman's  wit  than  from  a  man's.  But  it  is  not 
advisable  to  give  too  much  account  to  "  old  wives' 
fables".  It  is  a  question  which  properly  belongs  to 
Medical  Jurisprudence,  and  it  is  to  one  of  the  great 
English  exponents  of  this  science  that  we  now  turn. 
Saith  our  author:  ^ 

"  Some  medical  jurists  have  argued  that  a  rape  cannot 
be  perpetrated  on  an  adult  woman  of  good  health  and 
vigour;  and  they  have  treated  all  accusations  made 
under  these  circumstances  as  false.  Whether,  on  any 
criminal  charge,  a  rape  has  been  committed  or  not, 
is  of  course  a  question  of  fact  for  a  jury  and  not  for 
a  medical  witness.  The  fact  of  the  crime  having  been 
actually  perpetrated,  can  be  determined  only  from  the 
evidence  of  the  prosecutrix  and  of  other  witnesses ; 
still  a  medical  man  may  be  able  to  point  out  to  the 
court  circumstances  which  might  otherwise  escape 
notice.      Setting    aside    the    cases    of    infants,    idiots, 

'  l^ide  Taylor's  Principles  and  Practice  of  Medical  Jurisprudence, 
4th  edit,  by  Thomas  Stevenson,  M.D.,  Lond.  Vol.  II,  Lond.  Churchill, 
1894. 


144  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF 

lunatics,  and  weak  and  delicate  or  aged  women,  it  does 
not  appear  probable  that  intercourse  could  be  accom- 
plished ag-ainst  the  consent  of  a  healthy  adult,  except 
under  the  following  conditions  :  — 

I .  When  narcotics  or  intoxicating  liquids  have  been 
administered  to  her,  either  by  the  prisoner  or  through 
his  collusion.  It  matters  not,  in  a  case  of  this  kind, 
whether  the  narcotics  have  been  given  merely  for  the 
purpose  of  exciting  the  female,  or  with  the  deliberate 
intention  of  having  intercourse  with  her  while  she  was 
intoxicated, — the  prisoner  is  equally  guilty.  ^  The 
nature  of  the  substance  whereby  insensibihty  is  produced 
is  of  course  unimportant.  Thus  the  vapours  of  ether 
and  chloroform  have  been  criminally  used  in  attempts 
at  rape.  In  a  case  which  occurred  in  France,  a  dentist 
was  convicted  of  a  rape  upon  a  woman,  to  whom  he 
had  administered  the  vapour  of  ether.  The  prosecutrix 
was  not  perfectly  unconscious,  but  she  was  rendered 
wholly  unable  to  offer  any  resistance.  ^  A  dentist 
was  convicted  of  rape  under  somewhat  similar  circum- 
stances in  the  United  States,  but  it  was  thought  that 
the  woman  had  inade  the  charge  under  some  delusion. 
In  Reg.  v.  Snarey  (Winchester  Lent  Ass.,  1859), 
there  was  a  clear  attempt  at  fraud.  The  prosecutrix 
asserted  that  she  was  INSTANTLY  rendered  insensible 
by  the  prisoner  forcibly  applying  a  handkerchief  to 
her  face,  and  she  accused  him  of  having  committed  a 
rape  upon  her.  The  charge  was  disproved  by  a 
distinct  alibi,  as  well  as  by  the  improbability  of  all 
the  circumstances. 

Casper  met  with  a  solitary  case  in  which  a  girl,  aet. 

'See  Reg.  v.  Camplin,  Law  Ziw^j,  June  28th,  1845;  also  Med. 
Gaz.,  vol.   36,   p.   433. 

'  Med.   Gaz.,  vol.   40,  p.   865. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  145 

1 6,  accused  a  man  of  having  had  intercourse  wath  her 
while  she  was  sleeping  in  her  bed,  of  which  she  was 
not  conscious  until  he  was  in  the  act  of  withdrawing 
from  her.  On  her  own  statement  she  was  VIRGO 
INTACTA  up  to  the  date  of  this  occurrence.  Upon  the 
facts  of  the  case,  Casper  came  to  the  conclusion  that, 
if  her  statement  was  true,  the  man  could  not  have 
had  intercourse  with  her  without  causing  pain  and 
rousing  her  to  a  consciousness  of  her  position.  The 
hymen  was  not  destroyed,  but  presented  lacerations 
in  two  places.  This  and  other  facts  showed  that  there 
had  been  intercourse,  but  did  not  prove  that  this  had 
taken  place  without  the  consciousness  of  the  woman.  ' 
In  White  v.  Howarth,  ^  it  was  alleged  that  the 
defendant's  daughter,  having  gone  to  consult  the  plain- 
tiff, who  was  a  dentist,  he  took  an  opportunity  of 
rendering  her  suddenly  insensible  by  chloroform,  and 
then  had  intercourse  with  her.  In  cross-examination, 
however,  it  transpired  that  the  girl  was  not  rendered 
insensible  at  all,  but  was  conscious  of  all  that  was 
going  on,  and  she  might  have  given  an  alarm  but  did 
not.  Most  of  these  stories,  when  properly  examined, 
will  be  found  inconsistent  and  untrue.  It  is  not  the 
property  of  chloroform  or  of  any  narcotic  substance, 
in  a  non-fatal  dose,  to  render  a  person  instantaneously 
insensible  and  powerless.  In  Bromwich  v.  Waters  ^ 
it  was  alleged  on  the  part  of  the  plaintiff,  that  the 
defendant  had  given  to  a  woman  some  liquid,  which 
she  had  only  tasted,  and  then  suddenly  became  incon- 
scious.  It  was  suggested  that  while  in  this  state  the 
defendant    had    had    intercourse    with    her,    which   he 

'Klin.   Novellen,   1863,   p.  31. 

"  Liverpool  Wint.   Ass.,    1861. 

'  Chester  Lent  Ass.,   1863,  p.   253,  ante. 


146  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS    OF 

denied;  the  woman  herself  alleged  that  she  was  not 
conscious  of  her  pregnancy  until  some  months  after 
this  visit.  But  such  symptoms  could  not  be  reasonably 
ascribed  to  any  of  the  known  narcotic  substances.  If 
given  in  a  non-fatal  dose  their  effects  are  slowly  and 
gradually  produced;  if  they  come  on  in  a  few  minutes, 
the  dose  must  have  been  large,  and  then  it  is  probable 
the  person  would  die.  There  is  no  doubt  that  many 
of  the  charges  made  against  medical  men  and  dentists 
by  women  who  allege  that  they  have  been  violated 
whilst  under  the  influence  of  anaesthetics  are  false  charges. 
Anaesthetics  stimulate  the  sexual  functions,  and  the 
anogenital  region  is  the  last  to  give  up  its  sensitive- 
ness. ^  These  charges  are  sometimes  made  in  all  good 
faith  by  modest  females.  A  woman  under  the  partial 
influence  of  an  anaesthetic  may  mistake  the  forcible 
attempts  to  restrain  her  movements,  whilst  she  is  pass- 
ing through  the  preliminary  stage  of  excitement  induced 
by  the  anaesthetic,  for  an  attempt  upon  her  person. 
In  one  instance,  a  lady  engaged  to  be  married  was 
accompanied  to  a  dentist  by  her  affianced  husband. 
Chloroform  was  given,  and  a  tooth  extracted  in  the 
presence  of  this  gentleman.  She  could  hardly  be  con- 
vinced that  the  dentist  had  not  made  an  attempt  upon 
her  chastity. 

Evidence  of  Signs  of  Violence.  We  have  seen 
from  the  preceding  section  that  the  English  law  is 
very  severe  in  the  punishment  dealt  out  to  those  who 
dare  to  trifle  with  woman's  honour.  But  sometimes 
the  cleverest  jurist  alive  is  non-plussed  by  the  absence 
of  any  external  marks  which  would  indicate  that  force 
had  been  used.    The  charges  of  prostitutes,  for  instance, 

*  Bull,  of  the  Medico-Legal  Soc.  of  New   York,   May  and  Dec,  1881. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  147 

are  received  with  suspicion  and  closely  scrutinised.  Some- 
thing more  than  medical  evidence  would  be  required  to 
establish  a  charg-e  underthese  circumstances.  The  question 
turns  here,  as  all  cases  of  rape  upon  adult  women,  on 
the  fact  of  consent  having  been  previously  given  or  not. 
This  is  the  point  at  which  the  greater  number  of  these 
cases  of  alleged  rape  break  down;  and  it  need  hardly 
be  observed,  that  this  question  has  no  relation  to  the 
duties   of  a  medical  witness;  all  that  he  can  do  is  to 
establish,    occasionally,    whether   or   not   sexual    inter- 
course  has   been   had  with   or  without  some  violence. 
It   is   obvious    that    there    may    be    marks    of  violence 
about   the   pudendum    or   on   the  person,  and  yet  the 
conduct    of  the    woman    may    have   been  such   as  to 
imply    consent    on    her    part :    we    must    not   suppose 
that     medical     proof    of    intercourse     is     tantamount 
to  legal   proof  of  rape.     When  a  woman  has  already 
been  in  habits  of  sexual  intercourse,  there  is  commonly 
much   less    injury   done    to    the   genital    organs.      The 
hymen   will,    in    these    cases,    be  found  destroyed  and 
the  vulva  dilated.     Still,  as  the  intercourse  is  presumed 
to   be    against   the   consent   of  the    women,  it  is  most 
likely  that   when   there   has  been  a  proper  resistance, 
some    injury  will  be  apparent  on  the  pudendum ;  and 
there  will  be  also,  probably,  extensive  marks  of  violence 
on   the  body   and  limbs.      These    cases   are  generally 
determined  without  medical  evidence  by  the  deposition 
of  the    woman,   corroborated,  as  it  should  always  be, 
by  circumstances.   This  statement  regarding  the  presence 
of  marks   of  violence  on  the  pudendum  of  a  married 
woman,  on  whom  a  rape  is  alleged  to  have  been  committed, 
requires    some  qualification.     In  two  cases  of  rape  on 
married  women,  in  which  the  crime  was  completed  in 
spite   of  the    resistance   of  the  women,  there  were  no 


148  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS   OF 

marks  of  violence  on  the  genital  organs  in  either  case. 
In  one,  ^  it  appears,  that  while  an  accomplice  held  the 
head  of  the  woman  with  her  face  downwards  between 
his  thighs,  the  prisoner  had  forcible  intercourse  with 
her  from  behind, — her  thighs  having  been  first  widely- 
separated.  In  the  second  case  an  accomplice  held  the 
woman  down  on  a  bed  by  her  neck,  while  the  prisoner 
separated  her  thighs,  and  thus  had  intercourse  with  her. 
She  was  examined  nine  hours  afterwards  by  an  expe- 
rienced surgeon,  and  he  found  no  mark  or  trace  of 
violence  on  or  anywhere  near  her  pudendum.  There 
were  bruises  on  her  arms,  neck,  and  legs,  where  she 
had  been  forcibly  held  down.  In  each  of  these  cases, 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  woman  had  not  to  struggle 
with  a  single  assailant;  and  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that,  if  a  married  woman  is  rendered  powerless  by  many 
persons  being  combined  against  her,  or  if  rendered 
insensible  by  intoxicating  drinks  or  narcotic  vapours, 
a  rape  may  be  perpetrated,  without  any  injury  whatever 
to  the  genital  organs.  A  separation  of  the  thighs  in 
a  married  woman  will  cause  such  a  dilatation  of  the 
parts,  as  to  render  it  easy  for  the  male  organ  to  penetrate 
the  vagina  without  leaving  any  traces  of  violence  on 
the  labia  or  the  female  organs  generally. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  vagina  may  be  the  seat 
of  violence,  and  no  marks  to  indicate  a  struggle  or 
the  application  of  force  be  found  on  the  body.  A 
woman  was  knocked  down,  her  clothes  were  pulled 
over  her  face,  and  a  rape  was  perpetrated  by  the 
assailant.  In  the  position  in  which  she  was  held,  with 
her  arms  and  hands  covered  over,  she  was  half 
suffocated,  and  unable  to  offer  any  effectual  resistance. 
She  was  examined  on  the  evening  of  the  day  of  the 
*  Reg.  v.  Owen  and  others  (Oxford  Circ,  1839). 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  149 

assault.  No  marks  of  violence  were  found  on  her 
body,  but  the  mucous  membrane  of  the  vagina  at  its 
commencement  was  contused,  and  in  some  portions 
lacerated;  and  blood  was  oozing  from  these  parts.  It 
was  considered  that,  under  these  circumstances,  the 
statement  of  the  woman  was  consistent  with  the  fact 
that  there  were  no  marks  of  violence  on  her  body. 
There  was  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  injury  to 
the  vagina  had  been  caused  in  any  other  way  than 
by  a  criminal  assault. 

Trick   of  a  Negro  to  get  a  White  Woman.    I 

had,  as  boy,  in  my  service,  a  young  Sarrakholais 
named  Demba,  sixteen  years  old,  and  therefore,  of 
course,  past  the  age  of  puberty,  and  none  the  worse 
for  being  one  of  the  finest  specimens  of  his  race.  He 
was  the  son  of  a  laptot,  who  had  brought  him  to  Saint 
Louis  when  quite  young, — in  his  tenth  year.  At  twelve 
years  old,  he  had  been  servant  to  an  officer  of  Spahis. 
This  officer  had  resided  a  long  time  in  Algiers,  and 
was  the  intimate  friend  of  an  official,  who  had  also 
come  from  Algiers,  and  had  married  an  Algerian  woman 
of  Spanish  descent. 

The  intimacy  between  the  two  friends  was  carried 
to  such  an  extent,  that  the  officer,  who  lived  next 
door  to  the  official  (there  was  a  terrace  connecting  the 
two  houses),  was  constantly  in  the  house  of  the  latter. 
The  wife  of  the  official,  a  woman  of  ardent  tempera- 
ment and  warm  passions,  was,  as  may  be  guessed,  the 
mistress  of  the  officer,  and  when  her  husband  had 
gone  to  his  bureau,  used  to  go  along  the  terrace  to 
her  lover's  room.  Demba,  the  Negro  boy,  served  as 
the  messenger  of  love,  and  during  the  absence  of  the 
husband,   watched   at   the   door  in  case  of  his  sudden 


150  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

and  unexpected  return.  One  day  it  happened  that  the 
husband  had  already  left,  and  the  lady  had  just  entered 
her  lover's  room,  when  the  officer  was  called  away, 
on  some  military  duty  requiring  his  immediate  attend- 
ance. The  Negro  boy,  who  was  a  very  handsome 
lad,  with  eyes  like  a  gazelle,  and  a  form  like  an  antique 
aun,  but  already  a  man,  so  far  as  the  size  of  his 
genital  apparatus  was  concerned,  though  he  had  not 
yet  arrived  at  the  age  of  puberty,  ventured  to  enter 
the  chamber  where  the  lady  was  still  fretting  over  the 
absence  of  her  lover.  I  cannot  describe  here,  in  full 
and  realistically,  the  scene  in  which  Demba  showed 
the  lady,  proofs  in  hand,  that  he  was  in  love  with  her, 
and  that  he  was  of  a  size  to  satisfy  her  desires.  I 
will  content  myself  with  saying  that  the  pleasure  of 
the  lady  was  all  the  greater,  since  the  Xegro  boy, 
though  capable  of  taking  his  master's  place,  in  respect 
to  the  dimensions  of  his  penis,  being  still  under  the 
age  of  puberty,  did  not  secrete  any  seed,  and  the 
copulation  could  go  on  for  an  indefinite  time,  without 
any  danger  of  producing  fruit—  a  double  advantage  of 
pleasure  and  security. 

I  had  this  story  from  the  Negro  boy  himself.  The 
young  rascal,  who  was  as  intelligent  as  he  was  un- 
scrupulous, also  related  to  me  the  following  anecdote.  * 

A    Little  White   Girl  deflowered  by  a  Negro. 

He  related  to  me,  that  when  he  was  hardly  more  than 

'  This  inordinate  salaciousness  in  the  Negro  (man)  is  an  established 
fact,  and  has  given  rise  to  more  lynchings  in  the  Southern  States  of 
America  than  anything  else,  cases  of  robbery  and  brigandage  not  excepted. 
The  Scented  Garden  of  the  Sheikh  Nafziwi  records  two  or  more 
notable  cases  of  Negro  lust  and  brutality,  and  Burton's  note  (on  page  6 
Benares  edit,  of  Vol.  I  of  his  Nights)  respecting  the  genital  organs 
of  the  Zanzibar  Negroes,  will  recur  to  ail  students  of  Antliropology. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  151 

ten    years  old,  and  came  to  Saint  Louis,  his  father,  a 
laptot  in  the  employ  of  a  European  merchant  of  Saint 
Louis,    procured   him  a  place  in  the  merchant's  house, 
as    boy.      This    merchant    had    married    a    Signare  (a 
coloured  Creole)  from  Gorea,  and  had  a  little  daughter 
almost  of  the  same  age  as  the  young  Negro,  but  who 
was  nubile,  for,  according  to  the  Negro  boy,  she  made 
blood  {sic).     Anyhow,  her  parents  did  not  distrust  him, 
and    did    not  look  very  well  after  their  daughter,  and 
she,    with    the  lasciviousness  natural  to  coloured  girls, 
took    the    Negro  boy  for  her  lover.     She  used  to  rise 
in    the    night,    and    go    into    the    warehouse    where  he 
slept.     Their  amorous  delights  were  carried  on,  quietly 
and  mysteriously,  for  a  year,  but  were  at  last  discov- 
ered   by  traces  of  menstrual  blood,  which  were  found 
one    day    on    some    flour  sacks,  which  had  served  for 
their   improvised   bed   of  love.      The    Negro   boy   was 
turned  out  of  doors  with  a  good  kicking,  and  the  girl 
was  sent  to  a  boarding  school  at  Bordeaux,  to  complete 
an  education  that  had  commenced  so  well.  ^ 

EXCURSUS  TO  CHAPTER  VIIL 

THE   CHARACTER   OF   MESSALINA   VALERIA.  ^ 

Although  often  referred  to,  the  real  character  of  this 
"  lady  of  lust  and  death "  is  little  known.  She  would 
probably  be  regarded  by  the  medical  profession  to-day 
as  a  "case"  of  uterine  fever:  — 

'  See  Burton's  Nights  (Vol.  II,  page  49  of  the  Benares  edition)  for  a 
note  by  the  chevalier  on  the  criminal  connection  of  Negro  boys  with 
White  girls.  The  confiding  parents  who  entrust  their  children  to  the 
care  of  these  enterprising  Blacks  too  often  suffer  a  rude  awakening.  We 
shall   probably  revert  to  this  subject  later. 

'  From  Dr.  Paul  Moreau,  Aberrations  du  Sens   Ge'ne'siquc. 


152  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

There  are  vices,  said  Serviez  (in  1728),  as  well  as 
virtues,  which  seem  to  be  hereditary  in  families.  The 
bad  examples  of  fathers  sometimes  spread  a  sort  of 
contagion  which  contaminates  their  descendants,  and  a 
witty  lady  once  said  in  elegant  language  "  that  a 
coquettish  mother  would  rarely  engender  strict  daugh- 
ters." 

Valeria  Messalina  is  an  unhappy  example  which 
confirms  this  maxim.  Born  of  a  mother  not  over 
virtuous,  she  imitated  and  even  surpassed  her  in  her 
debauches.  Her  life  was  filled  with  crime,  she  stained 
her  reputation  with  the  most  shameful  and  crying 
licentiousness.  Her  prostitutions  were  altogether  infa- 
mous, her  lewdness  was  beyond  measure,  and  her 
dissolution  public  and  unlimited.  The  most  brutal 
pleasures  were  those  which  had  the  liveliest  attraction 
for  her,  and  the  most  horrible  licentiousness  revealed 
itself  to  her  in  seductive  garb.  The  only  thing  she 
looked  upon  with  eyes  of  horror  was  virtue,  and  what 
gave  her  the  least  trouble  wes  her  reputation.  She 
forgot  her  dignity,  her  birth,  the  natural  modesty  of 
her  sex,  the  fidelity  she  owed  to  her  husband  and  to 
her  emperor,  to  give  herself  up  brutally  to  her  pas- 
sions, without  any  care  for  decency,  and  without  fear 
of  the  fate  of  those  whom  she  resembled.  Never  was 
such  dissolution  seen  before. 

She  was  the  daughter  of  Valerius  Messala  Barbatus 
and  of  Lepida  who  was  accused  of  prostitution  and  of 
sorcery,  and  of  having  had  incestuous  intercourse  with 
her  brother  Domitius  Ahenobarbus.  It  was  this  impure 
spring  that  gave  birth  to  a  stream  still  more  impure. 
She  was  married  to  her  cousin,  the  emperor  Claudius. 

Messalina  had  been  gifted  by  nature  with  so  violent  a 
tendency  for  lechery,  that  it  was  very  difficult  for  her 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  153 

to  contain  herself  within  the  legitimate  bounds  of 
marriage,  too  limited  for  a  heart  burning  with  a  thou- 
sand desires. 

She  had  beauty  and  credit  enough  to  attract  lovers 
and  too  little  virtue  to  let  them  long  languish.  The 
corruption  of  her  temperament  awakened  her  lubricity ; 
the  love  of  riches  and  of  great  inheritances  excited 
her  cruelty  against  those  who  were  rich,  so  that  de- 
bauchery and  avarice  were  the  two  baneful  things 
which  underlay  all  the  desires  and  all  the  actions  of 
this  infamous  princess. 

Messalina  thought  only  of  satisfying  her  passions ; 
she  made  those  who  were  virtuous  enough  to  resist 
her  shameful  advances  suffer  from  her  cruelty.  She 
accused  those  who  would  not  consent  to  be  her  ac- 
complices of  crimes  against  the  State,  and  the  penalty 
of  their  resistance  was  death.  In  this  way  she  caused 
her  brother-in-law  Silanus,  who  had  repelled  with 
horror  all  her  offers,  to  be  put  to  death  ....  and  how 
many  others! 

Such  extravagant  lubricity  would  allow  no  limit 
to  the  crimes  of  this  princess.  Always  athirst  for 
pleasure,  she  was  not  satisfied  with  plunging  bru- 
tally into  the  grossest  and  most  infamous  debauchery, 
but  gave  herself  up  to  the  first-comer,  and  sacrificed 
everything  to  her  burning  desires,  without  being 
ever  able  to  gratify  them  to  satiety.  She  wanted  still 
to  have  companions  and  imitators  of  her  prostitutions ; 
and  authority  having  great  influence,  she  thought  to 
diminish  the  horror  of  her  infamies  in  associating  in 
her  crimes  ladies  belonging  to  the  highest  families  in 
Rome,  whom  she  forced  to  live  with  her  in  shameful 
libertinism. 

Further,    in    order  to  carry  her  brutality  to  the  last 


1S4  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS   OF 

point,  she  forced  them  to  prostitute  themselves  to  people 
abandoned  to  debauchery  in  presence  of  their  husbands, 
whom  she  made  the  witnesses  of  their  infamies  and 
often   the    accomplices    and  approvers  of  their  crimes. 

Juvenal  sketched  a  fearful  but  sublime  picture  of  the 
libertinism  of  Messalina. 

We  beg  permission  to  quote: — 

Extract  from  Juvenal's 
Sixth  Satire. 

Respice  rivales  Divorum:  Claudius  audi 

Quae  tulerit.     Dormire  virum  quum  senserat  uxor. 

Ansa  Palatino  tegetem  praeferre  cubili, 

Sum  ere  nocturnos  meretrix  augusta  cucullos, 

Linquebat,  comite  ancilla  non  amplius  una ; 

Et  nigrum  flavo  crinem  abscondente  galero, 

Intravit  calidum  veteri  centone  lupanar, 

Et  cellam  vacuam  atque  suam :  tunc  nuda  papillis, 

Prostitit  auratis,  titulum  mentita  Lyciscae, 

Ostenditque  tuum,  generose  Britannice,  ventrem. 

Excepit  blanda  intrantes,  atque  aera  poposcit, 

Et  resupina  jacens  multorum  absorbuit  ictus. 

Mox,  lenone  suas  jam  dimittente  puellas, 

Tristis  abit:  sed  quod  potuit,  tamen  ultima  cellam 

Clausit,  adhuc  ardens  rigidae  tentigine  vulvae, 

Et  lassata  viris,  sed  non  satiata  recessit. 

Obscurisque  genis  turpis,  fumoque  lucernae 

Foeda,  lupanaris  tulit  ad  pulvinar  odorem. 

Juvenal,  Sat.  vi.   115 — 132. 

It  is  no  easy  task  to  render  into  English  the  vigour 
of  the  original ;  for  those  unacquainted  with  Latin  we 
offer  the  following  translation. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  ISS 

"  Look  at  the  rivals  of  the  Gods :  hear  the  treatment 
Claudius  had  to  bear.  Soon  as  ever  his  consort  saw 
her  husband  was  asleep,  recklessly  preferring  a  pallet 
to  the  Palace  bed  and  donning  the  hood  of  night- 
walkers,  the  Imperial  harlot  would  leave  his  side, 
accompanied  by  a  single  maid ;  ^  and  hiding  her  dark 
hair  under  a  yellow  wimple,  entered  the  reeking  brothel 
with  its  patchwork  quilts,  and  made  for  the  chamber 
that  stood  vacant,  her  own.  Then  naked  and  with 
gilded  hippies  she  took  her  stand  for  hire,  under  the 
feigned  name  of  Lycisca,  ^  and  exposed  the  BfAA/  that 
bore  you,  noble  Germanicus,  to  all.  She  welcomed 
her  visitors  with  a  fawning  smile,  and  asked  for  the 
fee,  and  throwing  herself  on  her  B«%  drank  in  the  BA«^ 
of  many  lovers.  Presently,  when  the  whore-master 
dismissed  his  girls,  reluctantly  she  left ;  but  doing  all 
she  could  to  delay,  was  the  last  to  close  her  chamber, 
still  raging  with  the  lust  of  a  turgid  womb ;  and 
retired,  wearied  with  men,  but  unsatisfied.  Then,  with 
soiled  face  and  darkling  cheeks,  and  rank  with  the 
lamp's  smoke,  she  carried  the  stench  of  the  brothel  to 
the  Emperor's  couch." 

We  append  also  Gifford's  well-known  metrical  trans- 
lation of  the  passage. 

Turn  to  the  rivals  of  the  Immortal  Powers, 
And  mark  how  like  their  fortunes  are  to  ours. 
Claudius  had  scarce  begun  his  eyes  to  close, 

'  This  confidante,  according  to  Pliny  (lib.  VII),  was  one  of  the  most 
famous  prostitutes  known  in  Rome ;  he  adds  that  she  even  at  times 
surpassed  her  mistress:  eamqtte  die  ac  node  superavit  quinto  et  vices- 
simo  concubitu. 

*  The  haunts  of  vice  in  Rome  were  divided  into  little  cells,  on  the 
doors  of  which  could  be  read  the  names  of  each  of  the  courtesans  who 
occupied  them. 


156  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

Ere  from  his  side  his  Messalina  rose ; 
(Accustom'd  long  the  bed  of  state  to  shght, 
For  the  rank  mattress,  and  the  hood  of  night ;) 
And  with  one  maid,  and  her  dark  hair  conceal'd 
Beneath  a  yellow  tire,  a  strumpet  veil'd  ! 
She  slipt  into  the  stews,  unseen,  unknown, 
And  hir'd  a  cell,  yet  reeking,  for  her  own. 
There  flinging  off  her  dress,  the  imperial  whore 
Stood  with  bare  breasts,  and  gilded,  at  the  door, 
And  shew'd,  Britannicus,  to  all  that  came. 
The  womb  that  bore  thee,  in  Lycisca's  name  : 
Allur'd  the  passers  by  with  many  a  wile, 
And  ask'd  her  price,  and  took  it,  with  a  smile. 
And  when  the  hour  of  business  was  expir'd. 
And  all  the  girls  dismiss'd,  with  sighs  retir'd  ; 
Yet  what  she  could,  she  did  ;  slowly  she  past. 
And  saw  her  man,  and  shut  her  cell  the  last. 
Still  raging  with  the  fever  of  desire. 
Her  veins  all  turgid,  and  her  blood  all  fire, 
Exhausted,  but  unsatisfied,  she  sought 
Her  home,  and  to  the  Emperor's  pillow  brought. 
Cheeks  rank  with  sweat,  limbs  drench'd  with  poison- 
ous dews, 
The  steam  of  lamps,  and  odour  of  the  stews  ! 

It  is  useless  to  insist  further  upon  this  woman  who 
carried  impudicity  to  such  a  point  that  it  would  be 
impossible,  without  shame,  to  write  the  entire  history 
of  her  obscenities.  The  few  extracts  that  we  have 
given  amply  suffice  to  demonstrate  the  really  morbid 
character  of  her  debaucheries. 

Des  Aberrations  du  Sens  Ge'ne'sique,  Dr.  Paul  Mo- 
reau,  Paris,    1880,  8vo.,  p.  30 — 33. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Differences  between  the  organs  of  generation  of  the  various  races 
of  Senegal. 

Races  of  Senegal,  their  Genital  Organs.    So  far 

as  I  was  able  to  judge  from  a  certain  number  of  ob- 
servations, although  all  the  races  of  Senegal  present 
common  characteristics  as  to  their  genital  organs, 
nevertheless  certain  differences  may  be  found  between 
them. 

Amongst  those  people  who  have  a  Semitic  origin, 
the  yard  is  less  developed  when  in  a  flaccid  condition, 
and  the  difference  when  in  a  state  of  erection  is  more 
considerable,  than  in  the  Black  of  pure  race,  as  the 
Wolof  for  instance.  I  have  already  said  that  there  is 
an  infiltration  of  Semitic  blood  amongst  the  Peulhs 
and  Sarrakholais. 

In  the  Peulh,  the  penis  is  relatively  smaller  than  in 
the  pure  Black,  but  the  testicles  are  more  developed. 
In  its  shape,  the  yard  much  resembles  that  of  the 
Mulatto.  Moreover,  there  are  Peulhs  who  differ  little, 
as  to  general  colour,  from  certain  Mulattos.  However, 
the  ordinary  hue  of  the  body  is  a  reddish  brown,  whilst 
that  of  the  Mulatto  is  rather  a  yellow  brown.  The 
mucous  surfaces  of  the  lips,  the  gland,  and  the  vulva, 
in  the  Peulh,  are  a  little  darker  than  in  the  half-breed 
between  the  White  and  the  Black. 

With  the  Sarrakholais,  who,  according  to  Dr.  Lota, 

157 


158     UNTRODDEN  FIELDS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

are  a  cross  between  the  Peulhs  and  the  pure  Black 
race,  the  male  organ  of  generation  is  not  sensibly- 
smaller  than  that  of  the  Wolof,  and  presents  the  same 
characteristic  of  being  very  large  when  it  is  flaccid. 
But  as  the  Sarrakholais  have  a  general  tint  of  skin  a 
reddish  brown,  similar  to  that  of  cooked  chocolate,  we 
find  in  them  the  mucous  surface  of  the  lips,  the  gland, 
and  the  vulva,  to  be  a  little  lighter  than  that  of  the 
skin  of  the  penis,  and  of  a  hue  much  resembling  that 
of  the  Zambo  of  Guiana. 

The  other  races, — the  Wolofs,  Kassonkes,  Malinkes, 
Toucouleurs,  Bambaras,  etc. — present  the  common  char- 
acteristic which  is  a  type  of  the  race, — that  is  to  say 
that  the  penis  is  almost  as  large  when  flabby  as  it  is 
in  a  state  of  erection,  and  the  external  mucous  surfaces 
are  of  the  same  black  colour  as  the  skin.  It  was 
amongst  the  Malinkes  of  Kita,  that  I  found  the  most 
developed  penis,  and  notably  the  one  of  the  maximum 
dimensions,  being  nearly  twelve  inches  in  length,  by 
a  diameter  exceeding  2f  inches.  This  was  a  terrific 
machine,  and  except  for  a  slight  diff"erence  in  length, 
was  more  like  the  yard  of  a  donkey  than  that  of  a 
man. 


PART  THE  FOURTH.-OCEANIA. 

New   Caledonia. 
The  New  Hebrides — Tahiti. 

CHAPTER  I. 

Mv  stay  in  Neiv  Caledonia. — Anthropological  characteristics  of 
the  Kanaka  of  Neiv  Caledonia. —  The  Kanaka  "  Popine'e" . — 
Degraded  condition  of  the  Popine'e.  —  The  genital  organs  of  the 
Kanaka  race. —  Circumcision  at  the  age  of  puberty. — Seclusion  of 
girls  at  puberty.  —  "Hunting  the  Snake". — Beating  as  a  means 
of  purification.  —  Division  of  the  Kanaka  race  into  independent 
and  hostile  tribes.  —  The  man's  "  manou" .  —  Strattge  modesty  of 
the  Kanaka. — The  girdle  of  the  Popine'e. — A  few  words  about 
manners  and  customs.—  The  position  of  the  Chief  in  the  social 
state. — Habitations, — Food.  — The  Kanaka  stove. — Beliefs  and 
superstitions.  —  The  wizard-doctor  (Takata). — Prof.  Frazer  on 
"Killing  the  God". 

My  Stay  in  New  Caledonia.  I  arrived  in  New  Ca- 
ledonia at  the  moment  when  the  fierce  insurrection  of 
the  natives,  which  commenced  in  1878,  had  just  finished. 
It  had  cost  the  Colony  two  years  of  war.  Everyone 
remembered  incidents  of  the  struggle,  and  I  collected 
a  good  deal  of  information  from  eye-witnesses  whose 
evidence  could  be  trusted. 

In  order,  however,  not  to  unduly  lengthen  this  book, 
I    will    say   nothing  about  the  Europeans  in  New  Ca- 

l.u 


160  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

ledonia,    except    the    transported    convicts,    who    have 
special  and  peculiar  manners  and  customs. 

Anthropological  Characteristics  of  the  Ne"w 
Caledonian  Kanaka.  New  Caledonia  was  colonised 
by  the  Melanesian  Negro  in  the  first  place,  and 
afterwards  received  the  accession  of  a  superior  race, — 
the  Maoris.  According  to  the  greater  or  less  infusion 
of  Maori  blood,  which  is  different  in  the  various  tribes, 
the  tint  varies  considerably,  from  a  smoky  black  to 
chocolate,  and  to  a  dark  Florentine  bronze  with  cop- 
pery gleams.  On  the  east  coast,  you  more  especially 
find  tribes  of  a  lighter  colour.  The  Kanaka,  therefore, 
is  rather  a  Negro  half-breed  than  a  real  Negro,  and 
even  when  the  colour  of  his  skin  is  darkest,  it  is  im- 
possible to  confound  him  with  the  Negro  of  Africa. 
In  fact,  his  head  differs  notably  from  that  of  the 
African.  It  is  asymmetric,  the  facial  angle  is  wider, 
the  forehead  is  open,  high,  narrow,  and  convex.  The 
skull  is  flattened  across,  especially  in  the  temporal 
region.  It  is  covered  with  woolly  hair,  stiffer  and 
less  curly  than  that  of  the  Negro,  and  which  is  often 
stubbly,  which  is  never  the  case  with  the  hair  of  the 
Negro.  The  eyes  are  widely  open,  but  the  conjunctiva 
is  often  injected  with  streaks  of  blood,  which  gives 
them  a  fierce  expression.  The  cheek-bones  are  slightly 
projecting,  the  jaw  prognathous.  The  lips  are  fairly 
thick,  and  are  turned  back,  the  mouth  wide,  the  teeth 
very  fine,  and  regular.  The  Kanaka  has  nearly  always 
a  moustache,  and  often  a  good  sized  beard,  which  is 
rarely  the  case  with  the  African.  The  colour  of  the 
hair  and  beard  is  a  dark  black,  but  you  often  find 
men  who  have  the  hair  and  beard  a  fine  coppery  red 
as  clear  and  bright  as  that  of  the  European. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  161 

But,  more  especially,  it  is  in  the  exactness  of  his 
proportions,  and  the  regularity  of  form  of  his  body, 
that  the  New  Caledonian  excels.  The  race  is  generally 
thin  and  supple;  the  obesity  of  the  European  never 
vulgarises  and  disfigures  his  shape.  The  arms  and 
legs  are  not  of  a  disproportionate  length,  as  in  the 
Negro.  The  muscles,  which  are  hidden  in  the  flesh 
during  youth,  assume  a  vigorous  projection  in  virility; 
those  of  the  arms  are  often  as  well  developed  as  in  a 
robust  European ;  those  of  the  thighs  and  legs  are  less 
so,  but  they  are  firm  and  nervous.  The  Kanaka  is 
indefatigable  on  the  march,  especially  if  animated  by 
pleasure,  or  passion. 

The  Kanaka  Popin^e.  This  is  the  name  given  in 
New  Caledonia,  to  the  fairest  half  of  the  human  race, 
which  in  this  country  is  incontestably  the  ugliest.  In 
fact,  there  exists  such  a  striking  difference  between 
the  two  sexes  in  respect  to  beauty,  that  one  is  almost 
inclined  to  wonder  whether  the  male  Kanaka  has  not 
the  right  to  consider  such  a  companion  as  much  below 
him,  or  whether,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  the  state  of 
degradation  in  with  the  woman  lives  that  has  made 
her  so  ugly.  The  hair  of  the  woman  is  short  and 
frizzled,  and  is  worn  in  a  ball-shaped  knob  like  the 
helmet  of  a  Bavarian  soldier.  Whilst  she  is  a  young 
girl,  the  Popinee  is  worth  looking  at.  The  breasts, 
which  are  arch-shaped,  are  firm,  and  though  she  is 
generally  slender,  her  form  is  fairly  well  rounded,  and 
her  skin  soft.  But  this  fleeting  beauty  lasts  but  for  a 
flash,  and  the  Popinee  soon  withers  under  the  hard 
existence  that  savage  life  compels  her  to  lead.  The 
skin  dries,  the  scars,  with  which  she  covers  herself  as 
a   sign  of  mourning,  render  her  repulsive,  and  mater- 


162  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS    OF 

nity  completes  the  work  Suckling  greatly  develops 
the  breast,  which  lengthens  and  falls  naturally,  although 
the  practice  of  sub-cutaneous  incision  is  unknown  to 
her.  The  nipple  of  the  breast  is  large  and  black. 
When  she  no  longer  gives  suck,  the  breast  remains 
flabby  and  wrinkled,  and  falls  down  like  a  she-goat's 
udder.  The  belly  shows  several  parallel  wrinkles,  and 
'tiie  skin  hangs  down  over  the  pubes,  like  an  old 
kitchen  apron.  An  old  Kanaka  Popinee  is  an  object 
of  disgust,  whereas  the  maid,  even  when  aged,  always 
retains  a  certain  carriage.  A  young  Kanaka  of  twenty, 
on  the  contrary,  is  a  magnificent  specimen  of  the  race, 
and  resembles  an  antique  bronze. 

Degradation  of  the  Popinee.  Every  day,  the 
unfortunate  Popinee  works  like  a  beast  of  burden. 
She  does  all  the  work  for  the  squad  (I  use  this  word 
purposely)  both  in  cultivation  and  war.  On  the  march 
she  carries  the  provisions,  the  culinary  utensils,  the 
tools.  She  marches  on  and  on  indefinitely,  weighed 
down  by  her  burden;  if  she  gets  weak,  a  good  blow  with 
the  handle  of  a  war  club  will  restore  her  strength. 
At  night  the  she-donkey  with  four  legs  can  sleep  on 
its  litter,  but  the  Popinee  cannot.  She  must  satisfy  the 
passions  of  the  squad,  and,  even  when  she  is  pregnant, 
this    double  work  is  hardly  interrupted  by  child-birth. 

The  average  height  of  the  women  is  much  inferior 
to  that  of  the  men,  and  in  this  respect  there  is  nearly 
the  proportion  between  the  two  sexes  as  in  our  own 
race.  The  women  suckle  their  children  for  a  very  long 
time — from  three  to  five  years.  The  oppression  under 
which  they  groan,  the  hard  work  put  upon  them,  and 
the  privations  which  are  too  often  their  lot,  rapidly 
wear  out  the  strength  of  their  constitution. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  163 

The  Genital  Organs  of  the  Kanaka  Race.    The 

genital  organs  of  the  man  are  well-proportioned,  but 
much  less  developed  than  those  of  the  Negro.  They 
resemble  rather  those  of  the  South  European,  both  as 
to  shape  and  dimensions,  whether  flaccid  or  erect, 
though  a  little  superior  in  size.  The  penis,  when  in 
erection,  is  from  5-|  to  7^  inches  in  length  by  i^to  2 
inches  in  diameter — rarely  more.  Once  only  did  I 
find  a  penis  of  7I  inches.  This  size,  on  the  contrary, 
is  very  frequent  amongst  the  African  Negroes.  The 
average  appeared  to  be  6^  inches  by  if  inches.  The 
testicles  are  as  well  developed  in  length  as  those  of 
the  European,  but  appeared  to  me  to  be  a  little  flatter. 
In  the  colour  of  the  mucous  surface  of  the  lips,  the 
gland,  and  the  vulva,  the  Kanaka  also  resembles  the 
European.  With  those  natives  who  have  the  skin  of 
a  smoky  black  colour,  the  mucous  surfaces  are  never 
black,  as  they  are  in  the  Negro.  It  is  of  a  fairly 
bright  red,  darkened  by  a  touch  of  sepia.  With  those 
who  have  the  skin  the  colour  of  Florentine  bronze 
(they  are  almost  pure  Maoris)  the  mucous  surface  is 
of  a  bright  red,  toned  down  by  light  sienna,  — almost 
the  colour  of  red  brick. 

The  reader  must  bear  in  mind  that  we  must  go 
back  to  the  Quadroon  (three  quarters  white),  and  should 
still  find  the  mucous  surfaces  not  so  light  and  bright 
as  in  the  Kanaka.  I  shall  revert  to  this  subject,  when 
I  compare  the  organ  of  the  African  Negro  with  that 
of  the  Melanesian  Black  of  Australia.  It  may  be  said, 
that  in  the  coloured  man,  a  cross-breed  between  the 
White  and  the  Black,  the  mucous  surface  of  the  gland 
is  darker  than  the  skin  of  the  penis.  With  the  Ka- 
naka it  is  absolutely  quite  the  contrary',  who  in  this 
anthropological  peculiarity  resembles  the  South  Itahan, 


5% 


164  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS 

the  Sicilian  for  instance,  who  often  has  the  skin  of 
the  penis  and  the  scrotum  very  brown,  and  the  g-land 
bright  red.  The  pubes  is  covered  with  a  black  and 
curly  fleece, — red,  in  individuals  of  that  colour — and 
fairly  abundant. 

Circumcision  at  Puberty.  Usually,  in  the  boy 
before  the  age  of  puberty  the  foreskin  is  fairly  long. 
At  the  age  of  puberty,  in  certain  tribes, — generally 
speaking,  those  who  have  the  darkest  skin  and  who 
live  on  the  western  coast  (such  as  the  Kone  tribe) — 
they  make  those  boys  who  have  phimosis,  and  whose 
gland  does  not  skin  easily,  undergo  a  sort  of  demi- 
circumcision.  The  surgeon-sorcerer  of  the  tribe  splits 
the  upper  part  of  the  foreskin,  with  a  piece  of  quartz, 
sharpened  and  polished,  down  to  the  crown  of  the 
gland,  a  length  of  about  an  inch. 

This  operation,  which  is  much  less  painful  than  the 
complete  circumcision  of  the  Negro,  produces  almost 
the  same  effect,  and  the  gland,  even  when  in  a  flaccid 
state,  is  completely  freed.  The  foreskin  thus  divided 
is  tied  up  with  bourao  leaves,  steeped  in  the  juice  of 
certain  herbs  which  the  surgeon-sorcerer  chews,  and 
which  make  it  quickly  heal,  and  draw  it  back  behind 
the  gland.  But  when  in  erection,  the  foreskin  that 
has  been  operated  upon  in  this  way,  sticks  up  in  the 
form  of  a  comb,  very  much  like  the  cut  ears  of  a 
terrier,  forming  an  unpleasant  looking  projection  above 
the  penis.  This  would  be  rather  uncomfortable  in 
copulation,  if  the  Kanakas  were  particular  in  their 
pleasures.  This  pseudo-circumcision  is  simply  a  hygienic 
measure,  and  nowise  a  religious  custom.  * 

'  Watermarck    (see  his  work  on  Marriage),  it  is  only  right  of  me  to 
point   out,   thinks   differently   and    quotes    authorities    on    the    tribes    he 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  165 

Seclusion  of  Girls  at  Puberty.  While  dealing 
with  the  customs  pertaining  to  males  prevalent  amongst 
savage  peoples  on  the  arrival  of  the  age  of  puberty, 
it  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  quote  the  curious  remarks 
of  Frazer  regarding  girls  in  whom  also  the  signs  of 
womanhood  begin  to  appear.  "Amongst  the  Zulus," 
this  author  says,  "  and  kindred  tribes  of  South  Africa, 
when  the  first  signs  of  puberty  show  themselves,  while 
a  girl  is  walking,  gathering  wood,  or  working  in  the 
field,  she  runs  to  the  river  and  hides  herself  among 
the  reeds  for  the  day  so  as  not  to  be  seen  by  men. 
She  covers  her  head  carefully  with  her  blanket  that 
the  sun  may  not  shine  on  it  and  shrivel  her  up  into 
a  withered  skeleton,  assured  result  fi-om  exposure  to 
the  sun's  beams.  After  dark  she  returns  to  her  home 
and  is  secluded  in  a  hut  for  some  time."  * 

In  New  Ireland  girls  are  confined  for  four  or  five 
years  in  small  cages,  being  kept  in  the  dark  and  not 
allowed  to  set  foot  on  the  ground.  The  custom  has 
been  thus  described  by  an  eye-witness.  "  I  heard  from  a 
teacher  about  some  strange  custom  connected  with  some 
of  the  young  girls  here,  so  I  asked  the  chief  to  take  me 
to  the  house  where  they  were.  The  house  was  about 
twenty-five  feet  in  length,  and  stood  in  a  reed  and 
bamboo  enclosure,  across  the  entrance  to  which  a 
bundle  of  dried  grass  was  suspended  to  show  that 
it    was    strictly    '  tabu '.      Inside   the  house  were  three 

names.  Of  course,  I  do  not  deny  that  in  the  cases  he  cites  hygiene 
is  not  the  object  of  the  operation;  but  notwithstanding,  my  observa- 
tions hold  good  with  regard  to  the  Kanakas,  amongst  whom  I  have 
personally  moved  and  have  known  perhaps  with  too  dangerous  intimacy 
not  to  be  sure  of  my  facts  about  them. 

'  Rev.  James  Macdonald  (Reay  Free  Manse,  Caithness),  Manners, 
Customs,  Sttperstitions,  and  Religions  of  South  African  Tribes  (in 
manuscript). 


166  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

conical  structures  about  seven  or  eight  feet  in  height, 
and  about  ten  or  twelve  feet  in  circumference  at  the 
bottom,  and  for  about  four  feet  from  the  ground,  at 
which  point  they  tapered  off  to  a  point  at  the  top.  These 
cages  were  made  of  the  broad  leaves  of  the  pandanus- 
tree,  sewn  quite  close  together  so  that  no  light,  and 
little  or  no  air,  could  enter.  On  one  side  of  each  is 
an  opening  which  is  closed  by  a  double  door  of  plaited 
cocoa-nut  tree  and  pandanus-tree  leaves.  About  three 
feet  from  the  ground  there  is  a  stage  of  bamboos 
which  forms  the  floor.  In  each  of  these  cages  we 
were  told  there  was  a  young  woman  confined,  each 
of  whom  had  to  remain  for  at  least  four  or  five  years, 
without  ever  being  allowed  to  go  outside  the  house. 
I  could  scarcely  credit  the  story  when  I  heard  it;  the 
w^hole  thing  seemed  too  horrible  to  be  true.  I  spoke 
to  the  chief,  and  told  him  that  I  wished  to  see  the 
inside  of  the  cages,  and  also  to  see  the  girls  that  I 
might  make  them  a  present  of  a  few  beads.  He  told 
me  that  it  was  '  tabu, '  forbidden  tor  any  men  but 
their  own  relations  to  look  at  them  ;  but  I  suppose  the 
promised  beads  acted  as  an  inducement,  and  so  he 
sent  away  for  some  old  lady  who  had  charge,  and  who 
alone  is  allowed  to  open  the  doors  ....  She  had  to  undo 
the  door  when  the  chief  told  her  to  do  so,  and  then  the 
girls  peeped  out  at  us,  and,  when  told  to  do  so,  they 
held  out  their  hands  for  the  beads,  I,  however,  purposely 
sat  at  some  distance  away  and  merely  held  out  the 
beads  to  them,  as  I  wished  to  draw  them  quite  outside, 
that  I  might  inspect  the  inside  of  the  cages.  This 
desire  of  mine  gave  rise  to  another  difficulty,  as  these 
girls  were  not  allowed  to  put  their  feet  to  the  ground  all 
the  time  they  were  confined  in  these  places.  However 
they  wished  to  get  the  beads,  and  so  the  old  lady  had 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  167 

to  go  outside  and  collect  a  lot  of  pieces  of  wood  and 
bamboo,  which  she  placed  on  the  ground,  and  then 
going  to  one  of  the  girls,  she  helped  her  down  and 
held  her  hand  as  she  stepped  from  one  piece  of  wood 
to  another  until  she  came  near  enough  to  get  the 
beads  I  held  out  to  her.  I  then  went  to  inspect  the 
inside  of  the  cage  out  of  which  she  had  come,  but 
could  scarcely  put  my  head  inside  of  it,  the  atmosphere 
was  so  hot  and  stifling.  It  was  clean  and  contained 
but  a  few  short  lengths  of  bamboo  for  holding  water. 
There  was  only  room  for  the  girl  to  sit  or  lie  down 
in  a  crouched  position  on  the  bamboo  platform,  and 
when  the  doors  are  shut  it  must  be  nearly  or  quite 
dark  inside.  The  girls  are  never  allowed  to  come  out 
except  once  a  day  to  bathe  in  a  dish  or  wooden  bowl 
placed  close  to  each  cage.  They  say  that  they  perspire 
profusely.  They  are  placed  in  these  stifling  cages  when 
quite  young,  and  must  remain  there  until  they  are 
young  women,  when  they  are  taken  out  and  have  each 
a   great  marriage  feast  provided  for  them."  ^ 

'  The  Rev.  G.  Brown,  quoted  by  the  Rev.  B.  Danks,  "  Marriage 
Customs  of  the  New  Britain  Group,"  Jotirn.  Anthrop.  Institute,  XVIII, 
284  sq. ;  cp.  Rev.  G.  Brown,  "Notes  on  the  Duke  of  York  Group, 
New  Britain  and  New  Ireland,"  Journ.  Royal  Geogr.  Soc,  XLVII 
(1877),  p.  142  sq.  Powell's  description  of  the  New  Ireland  aistom  is 
similar  ( Wanderings  in  n  Wild  Country,  p.  249).  According  to  him 
the  girls  wear  wreaths  of  scented  herbs  round  the  waist  and  neck ;  an 
old  woman  or  a  litde  child  occupies  the  lower  floor  of  the  cage:  and 
the  confinement  lasts  only  a  month.  Probably  the  long  period  mentioned 
by  Mr.  Brown  is  that  prescribed  for  chiefs'  daughters.  Poor  people 
could  not  afford  to  keep  their  children  so  long  idle.  This  distinction 
is  sometimes  expressly  stated;  for  example,  among  the  Goajiras  of 
Colombia  rich  people  keep  their  daughters  shut  up  in  separate  huts  of 
puberty  for  periods  varying  from  one  to  four  years,  but  poor  people 
cannot  afford  to  do  so  for  more  than  a  fortnight  or  a  month.  F.  A. 
Simons,     "An    exploration    of    the    Goajira    Peninsula,"    Proceed  Royal 


168  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

In  some  parts  of  New  Guinea  "  daughters  of  chiefs, 
when  they  are  about  twelve  or  thirteen  years  of  age, 
are  kept  indoors  for  two  or  three  years,  never  being 
allowed,  under  any  pretence,  to  descend  from  the  house, 
and  the  house  is  so  shaded  that  the  sun  cannot  shine 
on  them."  ^  Among  the  Ot  Danoms  of  Borneo  girls 
at  the  age  of  eight  or  ten  years  are  shut  up  in  a 
little  room  or  cell  of  the  house  and  cut  off  from  all 
intercourse  with  the  world  for  a  long  time.  The  cell, 
like  the  rest  of  the  house,  is  raised  on  piles  above 
the  ground,  and  is  lit  by  a  single  small  window 
opening  on  a  lonely  place,  so  that  the  girl  is  in  almost 
total  darkness.  They  may  not  leave  the  room  on  any 
pretext  whatever,  not  even  for  the  most  necessary 
purposes.  None  of  her  family  may  see  her  all  the 
time  she  is  shut  up,  but  a  single  slave  woman  is 
appointed  to  wait  on  her.  During  her  lonely  confine- 
ment, which  often  lasts  seven  years,  the  girl  occupies 
herself  in  weaving  mats,  or  with  other  handiwork. 
Her  bodily  growth  is  stunted  by  the  long  want  of 
exercise,  and  when,  on  attaining  womanhood,  she  is 
brought  out,  her  complexion  is  pale  and  wax-like. 
She  is  now  shown  the  sun,  the  earth,  the  water,  the 
trees,  and  the  flowers,  as  if  she  were  newly  born. 
Then  a  great  feast  is  made,  a  slave  is  killed,  and  the 
girl   is   smeared   with    his  blood.  '^     In  Ceram  girls  at 

Geogr.  Soc.  N.  S.  VII  (1885),  p.  791.  In  Fiji,  brides  who  were  being 
tattooed  were  kept  from  the  sun.  Williams,  F^i  and  the  Fgians, 
I,  170.  This  was  perhaps  a  modification  of  the  Melanesian  custom  of 
secluding  girls  at  puberty.  The  reason  mentioned  by  Mr.  Williams, 
"to  improve  her  complexion,"  can  hardly  have  been  the  original  one. 

'  Chalmers   and  Gill,    Work  and  Adventure  in  New  Guinea,  p.  159. 

*  Schwaner,  Borneo,  Beschrt/ving  van  het  stroomgebied  van  den  Barito, 
etc.,  II,  77  sq.;  Zimmerman,  Die  Inseln  des  Indischen  und  StilUn 
Meeres,  II,  632  sq. ;  Otto  Finsch,  Neu  Guinea  und  seine  Beu'ohner,  p.  116. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  169 

puberty  were  formerly  shut  up  by  themselves  in  a 
hut  which  was  kept  dark.  ^  Amongst  the  Aht  Indians 
of  Vancouver  Island,  when  girls  reach  puberty  they 
are  placed  in  a  sort  of  gallery  in  the  house  "  and  are 
there  surrounded  completely  with  mats,  so  that  neither 
the  sun  nor  any  fire  can  be  seen.  In  this  cage  they 
remain  for  several  days.  Water  is  given  them,  but 
no  food.  The  longer  a  girl  remains  in  this  retirement 
the  greater  honour  is  it  to  the  parents;  but  she  is 
disgraced  for  life  if.  it  is  known  that  she  has  seen  fire 
or  the  sun  during  this  initiatory  ordeal."  ^  Amongst 
the  Thlinkeet  or  Kolosh  Indians  of  Alaska,  when  a 
girl  shows  signs  of  womanhood  she  is  shut  up  in  a 
little  hut  or  cage,  which  is  completely  blocked  up  with 
the  exception  of  a  small  air-hole.  In  this  dark  and 
filthy  abode  she  had  formerly  to  remain  a  year,  without 
fire,  exercise,  or  associates.  Her  food  was  put  in  at 
the  small  window;  she  had  to  drink  out  of  the  wing- 
bone  of  a  white-headed  eagle.  The  time  has  now  been 
reduced,  at  least  in  some  places,  to  six  months.  The 
girl  has  to  wear  a  sort  of  hat  with  long  flaps,  that 
her  gaze  may  not  pollute  the  sky;  for  she  is  thought 
unfit     for    the    sun    to    shine    upon.  ^      Amongst    the 

'  Riedel,  De  sluik-  en  kroesharige  rassen  tusschen  Selebes  en  Papua, 

p.    138. 

°  Sproat,   Scenes  and  Studies  of  Savage  Life,  p.  93   sq. 

*  Erman,  "  Etnographische  Wahrnehmungen  u.  Erfahrungen  an  den 
Kiisten  des  Behrings-Meeres,"  Zcitschrift  f.  Ethnologie,  II,  318  sq.; 
LangsdoriF,  "  Reise  um  die  Welt,"  II,  114  sq.;  Holmberg,  "Ethnogr. 
Skizzen  iiber  die  Volker  d.  russischen  Amerika,"  Acta  Societatis  Scien- 
tiarum  Fennicac,  IV  (1856),  p.  320^^./  Bancroft,  Native  Races  of  the 
Pacific  States,  I,  no  sq.;  Krause,  Die  Tlinkit-Indianer,  p.  217  sq. ; 
Rev.  Sheldon  Jackson,  "Alaska  and  its  Inhabitants,"  American  Anti- 
quarian, II,  III  sq.  W.  M.  Grant,  \n  Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore., 
I,     169.     For    caps,    hoods,    and    veils,    worn  by  girb  at  such  seasons, 


170  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

Koniags,  an  Esquimaux  people  of  Alaska,  girls  at 
puberty  were  placed  in  small  huts  in  which  they  had 
to  remain  on  their  hands  and  knees  for  six  months ; 
then  the  hut  was  enlarged  enough  to  let  them  kneel 
upright,  and  they  had  to  remain  in  this  posture  for  six 
months  more.  ^  When  symptoms  of  puberty  appeared  on 
a  girl  for  the  first  time,  the  Indians  of  the  Rio  de  la  Plata 
used  to  sew  her  up  in  her  hammock  as  if  she  were 
dead,  leaving  only  a  small  hole  for  her  mouth  to  allow 
her  to  breathe.  In  this  state  she  continued  so  long  as 
the   symptoms  lasted.  ^ 

Hunting  the  Snake.  In  similar  circumstances  the 
Chiriguanos  of  Bolivia  hoisted  the  girl  in  her  hammock 
to  the  roof,  where  she  stayed  for  a  month ;  the  second 
month  the  hammock  was  let  half  way  down  from  the 
roof;  and  in  the  third  month  old  women,  armed  with 
sticks,  entered  the  hut  and  ran  about  striking  everj-thing 
they  met,  saying  they  were  hunting  the  snake  that 
had  wounded  the  girl.  This  they  did  till  one  of  the 
women  gave  out  that  she  had  killed  the  snake.  ^ 
Amongst  some  of  the  Brazilian  Indians,  when  a  girl 
attained  to  puberty,  her  hair  was  burned  or  shaved  off 
close  to  the  head.  Then  she  was  placed  on  a  flat  stone 
and  cut  with  the  tooth  of  an  animal  from  the  shoulders 

compare  G.  H.  Loskiel,  History  of  the  Mission  of  the  United  Brethren 
among  the  Indians,  I,  56;  Journal  Anthrop.  Institute,  VII,  206;  G. 
M.  Dawson,  Report  of  the  Queen  Charlotte  Islands,  1878  (Geological 
Survey  of  Canada),  p.  130B;  Petitot,  Monographie  des  Dine-Dindjie\ 
pp.   72,    75  ;    id..    Traditions  indiennes  du    Canada  Nord-Otust,  p.  258. 

*  Holmberg;  Bancroft,  I,  82;  Petroff,  Report  on  the  Population,  etc. 
of  Alaska,    p.    143. 

*  Lafiteau,   Maeurs  des  Sauvages  Ame'ricains,  I,    262    .f^. 

*  Lettres  e'dif  antes  et  curieuses,  VIII,  333.  On  the  Chiriguanos 
see  Von  Martins,  Zur  Ethnographie  Amerika^s  zumal  Brasiliens,  p. 
212  sq. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  171 

all  down  the  back,  till  she  ran  with  blood.  Then  the 
ashes  of  a  wild  gourd  were  rubbed  into  the  wounds ;  the 
girl  was  bound  hand  and  foot,  and  hung  in  a  hammock, 
being  enveloped  in  it  so  closely  that  no  one  could  see 
her.  Here  she  had  to  stay  for  three  days  without 
eating  or  drinking.  When  the  three  days  were  over, 
she  stepped  out  of  the  hammock  upon  the  flat  stone, 
for  her  feet  might  not  touch  the  ground.  If  she  had 
a  call  of  nature,  a  female  relation  took  the  girl  on  her 
back  and  carried  her  out,  taking  with  her  a  live  coal 
to  prevent  evil  influences  from  entering  the  girl's  body. 
Being  replaced  in  her  hammock  she  was  now  allowed 
to  get  some  flour,  boiled  roots,  and  water,  but  might 
not  taste  salt  or  flesh.  Thus  she  continued  to  the  end 
of  the  first  monthly  period,  at  the  expiry  of  which  she 
was  gashed  on  the  breast  and  belly  as  well  as  all  down 
the  back.  During  the  second  month  she  still  stayed 
in  her  hammock,  but  her  rule  of  abstinence  was  less 
rigid,  and  she  was  allowed  to  spin.  The  third  month 
she  was  blackened  with  a  certain  pigment  and  began 
to  go  about  as  usual.  ^  Amongst  the  Macusis  of  British 
Guiana,  when  a  girl  shows  the  first  signs  of  puberty, 
she  is  hung  in  a  hammock  at  the  highest  point  of  the 
hut.  For  the  first  few  days  she  may  not  leave  the 
hammock  by  day,  but  at  night  she  must  come  down, 
light  a  fire,  and  spend  the  night  beside  it,  else  she 
would  break  out  in  sores  on  her  neck,  throat,  etc.  So 
long  as  the  symptoms  are  at  their  height,  she  must 
fast  rigorously.  When  they  have  abated,  she  may  come 
down  and  take  up  her  abode  in  a  little  compartment 
that  is  made  for  her  in  the  darkest  corner  of  the  hut. 
In  the  morning  she  may  cook  her  food,  but  it  must 
be  at  a  separate  fire  and  in  a  vessel  of  her  own.     In 

*  Thevet,  Cosmographie  universelle  (Paris,'  1575),  H,  946B  sq.  ;  Lafiteau. 


172  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

about  ten  days  the  magician  comes  and  undoes  the  spell 
by  muttering  charms  and  breathing  on  her  and  on  the 
more  valuable  of  the  things  with  which  she  has  come 
in  contact.  The  pots  and  drinking  vessels  which  she 
used  are  broken  and  the  fragments  buried.  After  her 
first  bath,  the  girl  must  submit  to  be  beaten  by  her 
mother  with  thin  rods  without  uttering  a  cry.  At  the 
end  of  the  second  period  she  is  again  beaten,  but  not 
afterwards.  She  is  now  "  clean,"  and  can  mix  again 
with  people.  ^  Other  Indians  of  Guiana,  after  keeping 
the  girl  in  her  hammock  at  the  top  of  the  hut  for  a 
month,  expose  her  to  certain  large  ants,  whose  bite  is 
very  painful.  ^ 

Beating  as  a  Means  of  Purification.  The  custom 
of  stinging  the  girl  with  ants  or  beating  her  with 
rods  is  intended,  we  may  be  sure,  not  as  a  punish- 
ment or  a  test  of  endurance,  but  as  a  purification,  the 
object  being  to  drive  away  the  malignant  influences 
with  which  a  girl  at  such  times  is  believed  to  be  beset 
and  enveloped.  Examples  of  purification,  both  by 
beating  and  by  stinging  with  ants,  have  already  come 
before  us.  ^  Probably,  beating  or  scourging  as  a 
religious  or  ceremonial  rite  always  originated  with  a 
similar  intention.  It  was  meant  to  wipe  off  and  drive 
away  a  dangerous  contagion  (whether  personified  as 
demoniacal  or  not)  which  was  supposed  to  be  adhering 
physically,  though  invisibly,  to  the  body  of  the  sufferer.  * 

'  Schomburgk,  Reisen  in  British  Guiana,  II,  315  i^./  Martius,  Zur 
Ethnographie  Amerika's,  p.   644. 

'  Labat,  Voyage  du  Chevalier  des  Marchais  en  Guine'e,  lies  voisines 
et  a   Cayenne;  IV,   365  sq.     (Paris  ed.),  p.    17  sq.     (Amsterdam  ed.) 

'Above,  p.   213  sq.  vol.  I,  p.   153  sq. 

*  This  interpretation  of  the  custom  is  supported  by  the  fact  that 
beating    or    scourging  is  inflicted  on  inanimate  objects  expressly  for  the 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  173 

The  pain  inflicted  on  the  person  beaten  was  no  more 
the    object    of   the    beating    than    it   is    of  a   surgical 

purpose  indicated  in  the  text.  Thus  the  Indians  of  Costa  Rica  hold 
that  there  are  two  kinds  of  ceremonial  uncleanness,  nya  and  bu-ku-ru. 
Anything  that  has  been  connected  with  a  death  is  nya.  But  hti-kii-rt\ 
is  much  more  virulent.  It  can  not  only  make  one  sick  but  kill.  "  The 
worst  bu-ku-ru  of  all  is  that  of  a  young  woman  in  her  first  pregnancy- 
She  infects  the  whole  neighbourhood.  Persons  going  from  the  house 
where  she  lives  carry  the  infection  with  them  to  a  distance,  and  all 
the  deaths  or  other  serious  misfortunes  in  the  vicinity  are  laid  to  her 
charge.  In  the  old  times,  when  the  savage  laws  and  customs  were  in 
full  force,  it  was  not  an  uncommon  thing  for  the  husband  of  such  a 
woman  to  pay  damages  for  casualities  thus  caused  by  his  unfortunate 
wife.  Bu-ku-ru  emanates  in  a  variety  of  ways;  arms,  utensils,  even 
houses  become  affected  by  it  after  long  disuse,  and  before  they  can  be 
used  again  must  be  purified.  In  the  case  of  portable  objects  left  un- 
disturbed for  a  long  time,  the  custom  is  to  beat  them  with  a  stick 
before  touching  them.  I  have  seen  a  woman  take  a  long  walking, 
stick  and  beat  a  basket  hanging  from  the  roof  of  a  house  by  a  cord. 
On  asking  what  that  was  for,  I  was  told  that  the  basket  contained 
her  treasures,  that  she  would  probably  want  to  take  something  out  the 
next  day,  and  that  she  was  driving  off  the  bu-ku-ru.  A  house  long 
unused  must  be  swept,  and  then  the  person  who  is  purifying  it  must 
take  a  stick  and  beat  not  only  the  movable  objects,  but  the  beds,  posts, 
and  in  short  every  accescible  part  of  the  interior.  The  next  day  it  is 
fit  for  occupation.  A  place  not  visited  for  a  long  time,  or  reached  for 
the  first  time,  is  bu-ku-rii.  On  our  return  from  the  ascent  of  Pico 
Blanco,  nearly  all  the  party  suffered  from  little  calenturas,  the  result  of 
extraordinary  exposure  to  wet  and  cold  and  want  of  food.  The  Indians 
said  that  the  peak  was  especially  bu-ku-rit,  since  nobody  had  ever  been 
on  it  before."  One  day  Mr.  Gabb  took  down  some  dusty  blow-guns 
amid  cries  of  bu-ku-rii  from  the  Indians.  Some  weeks  afterwards  a  body 
died,  and  the  Indians  firmly  believed  that  the  bu-ku-rii.  of  the  blow- 
guns  had  killed  him.  "  From  all  the  foregoing,  it  would  seem  that 
bu-ku-rii  is  a  sort  of  evil  spirit  that  takes  possession  of  the  object,  and 
resents  being  disturbed ;  but  I  have  never  been  able  to  learn  from  the 
Indians  that  they  considered  it  so.  They  seem  to  think  of  it  as  a 
property  the  objects  acquire."  W.  M.  Gabb,  Indian  Tribes  and 
Languages  of  Costa  Rica  (read  before  the  American  Philosophical 
Society,    20th  August,    1875),   p.    504  sq. 


174  QNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

operation  with  us;  it  was  a  necessary  accident,  that 
was  all.  In  later  times  such  customs  were  interpreted 
otherwise,  and  the  pain,  from  being  an  accident, 
became  the  prime  object  of  the  ceremony,  which  was 
now  regarded  either  as  a  test  of  endurance  imposed 
upon  persons  at  critical  epochs  of  life,  or  as  a  morti- 
fication of  the  flesh  well  pleasing  to  the  god.  But 
asceticism,  under  any  shape  or  form,  is  never  primitive. 
Amongst  the  Haupes  of  Brazil  a  girl  at  puberty  is 
secluded  in  the  house  for  a  month,  and  allowed  only 
a  small  quantity  of  bread  and  water.  Then  she  is 
taken  out  into  the  midst  of  her  relations  and  friends, 
each  of  whom  gives  her  four  or  five  blows  with  pieces 
of  sipo  (an  elastic  climber),  till  she  falls  senseless  or 
dead.  If  she  recovers,  the  operation  is  repeated  four 
times  at  intervals  of  six  hours,  and  it  is  considered  an 
offence  to  the  parents  not  to  strike  hard.  Meantime, 
pots  of  meats  and  fish  have  been  made  ready;  the 
sipos  are  dipped  into  them  and  then  given  to  the  girl 
to  lick,  who  is  now  considered  a  marriageable  woman.  ^ 
When  a  Hindoo  maiden  reaches  maturity  she  is  kept 
in  a  dark  room  for  four  days,  and  is  forbidden  to  see 
the  sun.  She  is  regarded  as  unclean ;  no  one  is  allowed 
to  touch  her.  Her  diet  is  restricted  to  boiled  rice, 
milk,    sugar,    curd,    and    tamarind    without    salt.  ^     In 

*  A.  R.  Wallace,  Narrative  of  Travels  on  the  Amazon  and  Rio 
Negro,  p.  496. 

*  Bose,  The  Hindoos  as  they  are,  p.  86.  Similarly,  after  a  Brahman 
boy  has  been  invested  with  the  sacred  thread,  he  is  for  three  days 
strictly  forbidden  to  see  the  sun.  He  may  not  eat  salt,  and  he  is 
enjoined  to  sleep  either  on  a  carpet  or  a  deer's  skin,  without  a  mattress, 
or  mosquito  curtain.  lb.  p.  186.  In  Bali,  boys  who  have  had  their 
teeth  filed,  as  a  preliminary  to  marriage,  are  kept  up  in  a  dark  room 
for  three  days.  Van  Eck,  "Schetsen  van  het  eiland  Bali,"  Tijdschrift 
voor  Nederlandsch  Indie,  N.  S.  IX  (1880),   428  sq. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  17S 

Cambodia  a  girl  at  puberty  is  put  to  bed  under  a 
mosquito  curtain,  where  she  should  stay  a  hundred 
days.  Usually,  however,  four,  five,  ten,  or  twenty 
days  are  thought  enough;  and  even  this,  in  a  hot 
climate  and  under  the  close  meshes  of  the  curtain,  is 
sufficiently  trying.  ^  According  to  another  account,  a 
Cambodian  maiden  at  puberty  is  said  to  "  enter  into 
the  shade."  During  her  retirement,  which,  according 
to  the  rank  and  position  of  her  family,  may  last  any 
time  from  a  few  days  to  several  years,  she  has  to 
observe  a  number  of  rules,  such  as  not  to  be  seen  by 
a  strange  man,  not  to  eat  flesh  or  fish,  and  so  on. 
She  goes  nowhere,  not  even  to  the  pagoda.  But  this 
state  of  retirement  is  discontinued  during  eclipses;  at 
such  times  she  goes  forth  and  pays  her  devotions 
to  the  monster  who  is  supposed  to  cause  eclipses  by 
catching  the  heavenly  bodies  between  his  teeth.  ^  The 
fact  that  her  retirement  is  discontinued  during  an  eclipse 
seems  to  show  how  literally  the  injunction  is  interpreted 
which  forbids  maidens  entering  on  womanhood  to  look 
upon  the  sun. 

Woman  during  the  Menstrual  Period.  Mr.  Frazer 
has  gone  deeply  into  this  subject  and  quotes  a  mass 
of  authorities  to  prove  that  the  ground  of  this  seclusion 
of  girls  at  puberty  lies  in  the  deeply  engrained  dread 
which  primitive  man  universally  entertains  of  men- 
struous  blood.  Evidence  of  this  has  already  been 
adduced,  but  a  few  more  facts  may  here  be  added. 
Amongst  the  Australian  blacks  "the  boys  are  told 
from    their    infancy    that,    if  they  see  the  blood,  they 

'  Moura,    Royaume  dii    Cambodge,   I,   377. 

*  Aymonier,  "  Notes  sur  les  coutumes  et  croyances  superstitieuses  des 
Cambodgiens,"  Cochinchine  Frartfaise,  Excursions  et  Reconnaissances, 
No.   16  (Saigon,    1883),  p.   193  sq.  Cp.  id.  Notice  sur  le  Cambodge,  y>-  50. 


176  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

will  early  become  gray-headed,  and  their  strength 
will  fail  prematurely."  Hence  a  woman  lives  apart 
at  these  times ;  and  if  a  young-  man  or  boy  approaches 
her  she  calls  out,  and  he  immediately  makes  a  circuit 
to  avoid  her.  The  men  go  out  of  their  way  to  avoid 
even  crossing  the  tracks  made  by  women  at  such 
times.  Similarly  the  woman  may  not  walk  on  any 
path  frequented  by  men,  nor  touch  anything  used  by 
men ;  she  may  not  eat  fish,  or  go  near  water  at  all, 
much  less  cross  it;  for  if  she  did,  the  fish  would  be 
frightened,  and  the  fishers  would  have  no  luck;  she 
may  not  even  fetch  water  for  the  camp ;  it  is  sufficient 
for  her  to  say  Thania  to  ensure  her  husband  fetching 
the  water  himself.  A  severe  beating,  or  even  death, 
is  the  punishment  inflicted  on  an  Australian  woman 
who  breaks  these  rules.  ^  The  Bushmen  think  that,  by 
a  glance  of  a  girl's  eye  at  the  time  when  she  ought 
to  be  kept  in  strict  retirement,  men  become  fixed  in 
whatever  position  they  happen  to  occupy,  with  what- 
ever they  were  holding  in  their  hands,  and  are  changed 
into  trees  which  talk.  ^ 

"  The  Guayquiries  of  the  Orinoco  think  that,  when  a 
woman  has  her  courses,  everything  upon  which  she 
steps  will  die,  and  that  if  a  man  treads  on  the  place 
where  she  has  passed,  his  legs  will  immediately  swell 
up.  '  The  Creek  and  kindred  Indians  of  the  United 
States  compelled  women  at  menstruation  to  live  in 
separate  huts  at  some  distance  from  the  village.     There 

'  Native  Tribes  of  South  Australia,  p.  1 86;  E.J.  Eyre,  Journals, 
II,  295,  304;  W.  Ridley,  Kamilaroi,  p.  Xiy"] ;  Journ.  Anthrop.  Inst. 
II,  268,  IX,  459  sq.;  Brough  Smyth,  Aborigines  of  Victoria,  I,  65, 
236.  Cp.  Sir  George  Grty,  Journals,  II,  344;  J.  Dawson,  Australian 
Aborigines,   i  o  i   sq. 

'  Bleek,  Brief  Account  of  Bushman  Folk-lore,  p.    14;  cp.  ib.  p.  10. 

*  Gumilla,   Htstoire  de  I'  Ore'noque,  I,    249. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  177 

the  women  had  to  stay,  at  the  risk  of  being  surprised 
and  cut  off  by  enemies.  It  was  thought  'a  most 
horrid  and  dangerous  pollution '  to  go  near  the  women 
at  such  times ;  and  the  danger  extended  to  enemies 
who,  if  they  slew  the  women,  had  to  cleanse  themselves 
from  the  pollution  by  means  of  certain  sacred  herbs 
and  roots.  ^  Similarly,  among  the  Chippeways  and 
other  Indians  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Territory,  women  at 
such  seasons  are  excluded  from  the  camp,  and  take 
up  their  abode  in  huts  of  branches.  They  wear  long 
hoods,  which  effectually  conceal  the  head  and  breast. 
They  may  not  touch  the  household  furniture  nor  any 
objects  used  by  men;  for  their  touch  'is  supposed  to 
defile  them,  so  that  their  subsequent  use  would  be 
followed  by  certain  mischief  or  misfortune,'  such  as 
disease  or  death.  They  may  not  walk  on  the  common 
paths  nor  cross  the  tracks  of  animals.  They  '  are  never 
permitted  to  walk  on  the  ice  of  rivers  or  lakes,  or 
near  the  part  where  the  men  are  hunting  beaver,  or 
where  a  fishing-net  is  set,  for  fear  of  averting  their 
success.  They  are  also  prohibited  at  those  times  from 
partaking  of  the  head  of  any  animal,  and  even  from 
walking  in  or  crossing  the  track  where  the  head  of  a 
deer,  moose,  beaver,  and  many  other  animals  have 
lately  been  carried,  either  on  a  sledge  or  on  the  back. 
To  be  guilty  of  a  violation  of  this  custom  is  considered 
as  of  the  greatest  importance;  because  they  firmly 
believe  that  it  would  be  a  means  of  preventing  the 
hunter  from  having  an  equal  success  in  his  future 
excursions."  ■^     So    the   Lapps   forbid   women    at    men- 

*  James  Adair,   History  of  the  American  Indiana,  p.   123  sq. 

'  S.  Hearne,  Journey  to  the  Northern  Ocean,  p.  314  sq. ;  Alex. 
Mackenzie,  Voyages  through  the  Continent  of  North  America,  CXXIII; 
Petitot,   Monographie  des  Dene-Dindjie,  p.   75   sq. 


178  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

struation  to  walk  on  that  part  of  the  shore  where  the 
fishers  are  in  the  habit  of  setting  out  their  fish.  ^ 

"  Amongst  the  civilised  nations  of  Europe  the  super- 
stitions which  have  prevailed  on  this  subject  are  not 
less  extravagant.  In  the  oldest  existing  cyclopaedia  — 
the  Natural  History  of  Pliny — the  list  of  dangers 
apprehended  from  menstruation  is  longer  than  any 
furnished  by  savages.  According  to  Pliny,  the  touch 
of  a  menstruous  woman  turned  wine  to  vinegar,  blighted 
crops,  killed  seedlings,  blasted  gardens,  brought  down 
the  fruit  from  trees,  dimmed  mirrors,  blunted  razors, 
rusted  iron  and  brass  (especially  at  the  waning  of  the 
moon),  killed  bees,  or  at  least  drove  them  from  their 
hives,  caused  mares  to  miscarry,  and  so  forth.  ^ 
Similarly,  in  various  parts  of  Europe,  it  is  still  believed 
that  if  a  woman  in  her  courses  enters  a  brewery  the 
beer  will  turn  sour ;  if  she  touches  beer,  wine,  vinegar, 
or  milk,  it  will  go  bad;  if  she  makes  jam,  it  will  not 
keep;  if  she  mounts  a  mare,  it  will  miscarry;  if  she 
touches  buds,  they  will  wither;  if  she  climbs  a  cherry- 
tree,  it  will  die.  ^ 

*  C.  Lemius,    De  Lapponibus  Finmarchiae  eoruynque  lingua  vita  et 
religione  pristina  (Copenhagen,    1767),  p.  494. 

•Pliny,    Nat.    Hist.    VII,    §  64    sg.;    XXVIII,  S^  JJ  sqq.  Cp.   Geo- 
ponica,  XII,   C.   20,   5   and   25,  2 ;  Columella,  XI,  3,   50. 

'A.  Schleicher,  Volkstiimliches  aus  Sonnenberg,  p.  134;  B.  Souch^, 
Croyances,  Presages  et  Traditions  diverses,  p.  1 1  ;  V.  Fossel,  Volk- 
medicin  und  medicinischer  Aberglaube  in  Steiermark  (Graz,  1886), 
p.  124.  The  Greeks  and  Romans  thought  that  a  field  was  completely 
protected  against  insects  if  a  menstruous  woman  walked  round  it  with 
bare  feet  and  streaming  hair.  Pliny,  Nat.  Hist.  XVII,  266 ;  XXVIII, 
78;  Columella,  X,  358  sq.  ;  XI,  3,  64;  Palladius,  De  re  rustica.i,  i^ 
3;  Geoponica,  XII,  8,  5  sq. ;  Aelian,  Nat.  Anim.  VI,  36.  A  similar 
remedy  is  employed  for  the  same  purpose  by  North  American  Indians 
and  European  peasants.  Schoolcraft,  Indian  Tribes,  v.  70;  Wiedemann. 
Alls    dent    inneren    und   iitissern    Leben  der  Ehoten,  p.   484.  Cp.  Hal- 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  179 

Division  of  the  Kanaka  Race  into  Independent 
and  Hostile  Tribes.  The  peopling  of  the  island  by 
successive  immigrations  of  the  Black,  coming  from  the 
West,  and  the  Maori,  from  the  East;  the  elongated 
shape  of  the  island,  which  resembles  a  chain  of  moun- 
tains emerged  from  the  sea,  and  separating  completely 
the  East  and  West  coasts ;  the  division  of  the  basins 
of  the  rivers  by  numerous  lesser  chains  of  mountains, 
very  difficult  of  access,  all  concur  to  separate  the  New 
Caledonian  race  into  a  number  of  tribes,  which  are 
often  enemies  to  each  other.  Nevertheless,  the  root 
of  the  language  is  common,  and  so  are  the  manners 
and  customs.  A  tribe  consists  of  villages,  the  chiefs 
of  which  depend  on  the  chief  of  the  tribe; — an  organised 
feudalism,  like  the  clans  of  old  Scotland. 

The  Man's  "Manou."  The  costume  of  the  Ka- 
nakas is  of  primitive  simplicity.  The  man  wears  on 
his  head  a  handkerchief,  tied  into  a  turban  by  means 
of  his  sling,  and  often  ornamented  with  feathers,  or 
plants.  He  ornaments  his  body  with  necklaces  of  shark 
skin,  and  bracelets  of  shells  on  his  arms  and  legs. 
The  lobe  of  the  ear  is  often  pearced  with  a  hole,  in 
which  is  inserted  a  round  piece  of  wood,  as  big  as  an 
ordinary  cork.  The  belly  is  tied  round  with  a  girdle 
of  leather  and  cord,  and  the  acme  of  "  high  life "  is 
to  have  the  chest  smeared  with  a  mixture  of  lard  and 
cocoa-nut  oil.  But  the  real  costume  of  the  Kanaka  is 
the  manou,  an  article  of  clothing  of  a  bright  colour, 
generally  red.  This  is  what  the  manou  is.  Some 
Parisian  play-wright  has  made  a  naval  officer,  supposed 
to  have  returned  from  New  Caledonia,  say,  that  with 
a  pair  of  gloves  you  can  clothe  ten  Kanakas.  The 
fingers   of  the  gloves  would  have  to  be  of  extra  size 


180  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

if  SO.  Another  witty  "  boulevardier  "  says,  that  a  Kanaka 
much  resembles  a  gentleman  in  evening  dress,  for 
both  wear  a  tail  coat.  I  ask  the  reader's  pardon  for 
inserting  this  joke. 

This  solitary  article  of  dress  is  called  the  manou 
which  the  Frenchman  has  translated  by  the  word 
moineau.  To  manufacture  his  manou  the  Kanaka 
takes  a  cotton  handkerchief  of  some  bright  colour,  rolls 
it,  twists  it  round  his  yard,  so  that  it  makes  a  comic 
looking  hood  the  point  of  which  falls  to  the  knee, 
then  he  passes  the  two  opposite  ends  under  his  tes- 
ticles and  fastens  them  on  the  pubes,  at  the  root  of 
his  penis.  The  singular  effect  that  this  strange  cos- 
tume gives,  when  it  is  seen  for  the  first  time,  may  be 
easily  imagined.  One  soon  gets  used  to  it  however, 
even  European  ladies.  In  the  jumps  and  bounds, 
which  the  Kanaka  makes  in  dancing  the  pilou-pilou, 
his  national  dance,  the  manou  waggles  about  like  the 
clapper  of  a  bell,  which  has  an  irresistibly  comic  effect. 
When  two  chiefs  meet,  it  is  considered  a  mark  of 
courtesy  and  good  taste  to  exchange  manous  with 
each  other.  It  would  be  a  serious  insult  to  a  Kanaka 
to  lay  hold  of  the  end  of  his  manou  and  unroll  it; 
you  would  stand  a  good  chance  of  getting  a  rap  on 
the  head  from  his  club.  I  found  it  very  difficult  to 
persuade  a  Kanaka  to  take  off  his  manou,  and  show 
me  his  genital  organs.  He  would  never  do  so  in 
public,  but  only  in  a  hut,  and  when  free  from  obser- 
vation. He  even  carries  his  scruples  to  such  an  extent 
that  he  is  shocked  at  seeing  a  European  bathe  stark 
naked.  I  experienced  this  myself  One  fine  morning, 
I  wanted  to  take  a  bath  in  the  Thio,  and  as  I  was 
alone,  and  there  was  no  policeman  to  summon  me  for 
indecent   exposure,    I  jumped    into    the    water   in   the 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  181 

costume  of  Father  Adam  When  I  came  out,  I  found 
that  some  Kanakas  had  assembled  on  the  shore  whilst 
I  was  taking  my  bath.  They  were  extremely  shocked 
at  my  nakedness,  and  pointed  at  me,  and  made  fun 
of  me. 

One  of  the  Missionary  Fathers  told  me  the  following, 
which  he  declared  to  be  true.  Some  sailors  were 
bathing,  quite  naked,  near  a  village,  without  suspect- 
ing that  they  were  scandalising  the  villagers.  Sud- 
denly they  all  began  to  cry  out,  for  each  man  felt 
himself  caught  hold  of  by  the  genital  parts.  Some 
Kanaka  divers  were  trying  to  put  caps,  made  of  leaves 
rolled  up,  over  the  members  of  the  men. 

Strange  Modesty  of  the  Kanaka.  The  Kanaka 
carries  his  prudery  even  further.  The  civilised  Euro- 
pean makes  water  against  a  wall,  and  often  hardly 
hides  himself,  when  there  is  no  urinal  at  hand,  but  I 
have  never  seen  a  Kanaka  make  water  in  public.  He 
hides  himself,  and  crouches  down  behind  a  bush  or  a 
hut,  before  he  takes  off  his  manoti,  which  of  course 
would  interfere  with  the  operation.  In  this  respect 
the  Kanaka  can  give  the  Englishman  points. 

Our  distinguished  friend  Letourneau,  the  professional 
anthropologist,  has  made  a  careful  study  of  the  strangely 
different  ideas  prevalent  amongst  various  races  on  the 
subject  of  modesty,  and  his  remarks  are  so  apposite 
that  we  take  leave  to  quote  them :  "  Throughout 
Polynesia,  "  he  says,  "  nudity  was  formerly  the  fashion. 
Tasmanians  and  Polynesians  would,  if  necessary,  cast 
a  mantle  of  Kanguru  skins  over  their  shoulders,  but 
it  was  solely  on  account  of  the  cold,  or  as  a  protec- 
tion against  thorny  briars.  The  women  did  not  even 
dream  of  modesty,  and  one  must  be  affected  with  the 


182  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

monomania  of  the  human  race  to  find  any  intention 
of  decency  in  the  custom  of  the  Tasmanian  women, 
when  squatting  down,  to  bring  up  one  or  both  their 
feet  so  as  to  cover  their  nudity.  ^ 

"  It  often  happens  that  European  travellers,  particu- 
larly missionaries,  who  are  prone  to  attribute  to  inferior 
races  all  or  a  part  of  their  own  ideas  on  decency, 
have  seen  an  intention  of  modesty  in  mere  rudiments 
of  clothing,  used  only  for  purposes  of  protection.  The 
strings  and  bit  of  bark  of  the  Neo-Caledonians  and 
of  the  Mallicollo  islanders,  the  shells  worn  by  the  latter 
do  not  in  any  way  reveal  a  moral  intention;  ^  the 
part  they  play  is  that  of  a  special  armour  destined  to 
protect  delicate  organs. 

"  In  New  Caledonia  (the  Isle  of  Pines),  the  missionaries 
provoked  violent  protests,  when  they  raised  the  preten- 
sion to  make  the  girls  wear  the  girdles  of  married 
women,  and  these  latter  energetically  claimed  their 
rights.  ^ 

"  The  Polynesian  women,  always  very  lightly  clad, 
would  undress,  without  thought  of  evil,  on  the  slightest 
motive  and  invariably  when  they  went  to  bathe.  In 
the  Sandwich  Islands,  the  native  ladies,  already  some- 
what touched  by  European  civilisation,  used  to  swim 
stark  naked  towards  the  ships,  bearing  on  their  heads 
their  silk  dresses,  their  shoes  and  stockings  and  their 
parasols,  wherewith  to  deck  themselves  out  when  they 
got  on  board.  * 

"  The    perfect    absence    of  scruples,  with  which  the 


'  Labillardi^re,  quoted  by  Bonwick  {Daily  Life,  etc.,  p.   58). 

*  Cook's  Voyage  round  the  world. — De  Rochas,  Nouvelle  Cale'donie, 
p.    153. — D'Entrecasteaux,  Hist.    Univ.  des    Voyages,  t.  XV,  p.   56. 

■''  De  Rochas,  loc.  cit.  p.    153. 

*  Beochey,  Hist.    Univ.  des    Voyages,  t.  XIX,  p.  374. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  183 

Polynesians  considered  what  we  call  far  excellence 
'  morals ',  gave  rise  to  incidents  most  singular  to  Euro- 
peans. During  a  passage  of  one  of  Cook's  boats  be- 
tween the  islands,  a  Tahitian  lady  of  high  rank  wanted 
to  convince  herself  de  visu,  that  Englishmen  were,  in 
every  way,  made  like  the  men  of  her  own  country, 
and  that,  out  of  pure  curiosity.  ^  On  another  occasion, 
a  missionary  was  forced  to  hurry  back  to  the  ship 
that  had  brought  him :  the  islanders,  being  quite  unable 
to  understand  his  continence,  had  imagined  that  he 
had  some  sort  of  malformation  and  had  endeavoured 
to  assure  themselves  of  the  fact.  With  slight  varia- 
tions, similar  customs  may  also  be  observed  elsewhere 
than  in  the  Pacific  Ocean.  In  general,  primitive  men 
are  strangers  to  any  trouble  about  decency.  For 
instance,  the  most  savage  of  the  American  Indians, 
the  Fuegians,  ^  the  Californians,  ^  satisfied  their  neces- 
sities at  the  very  place  where  they  happened  to  be  at 
the  moment,  and  without  taking  heed  of  their  neigh- 
bours. 

"In  1498,  at  Trinity  Island,  Christopher  Columbus 
found  the  women  entirely  naked,  whereas  the  men 
wore  a  light  girdle  called  guayaco.  At  the  same 
epoch,  on  the  Para  Coast,  the  girls  were  distinguished 
from  the  married  women  by  their  absolute  nudity. 
The  same  absence  of  costume  was  observed  among 
the  Chaymas,  *  and  Du  Chaillu  noticed  the  same 
among  the  Achiras  on  the  West  coast  of  Africa.  ^  It 
is  besides  well  known  how  very  primitive  is  the  female 

'  Cook,   Second   Voyage  round  the  world. 

'  L'Hermitte,  Hist.    Univ.  des    Voyages,  t.  VII,  p.  435. 

*  La  Perouse,  Hist.    Univ.  des    Voyages,  t.  XII,  p.    194. 

*  Humboldt,  Hist.    Univ.  d.    Voy.,   t.  XXXVIII,  p.   362. 

*  Du  Chaillu,  Journey  in  equatorial  Africa,  p.   466. 


184  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

costume  throughout  Black  Africa.  That  of  the  men 
is  often  still  more  so.  Sometimes  it  is  entirely  absent, 
as  Schweinfurth  relates  in  the  notes  of  his  travels, 
that  the  Dinkas  glorified  in  their  complete  nudity,  and 
contemptuously  called  the  traveller  '  the  Turkish  lady ' 
on  account  of  his  attire.  ^ 

"  I  will  here  cease  this  enumeration,  which  might  be 
much  longer.  In  making  it  my  object  was  in  no  wise 
to  group  strange  facts  shocking  to  our  European  ideas 
of  modesty.  My  object  was  only  to  shed  a  light  upon 
these  primitive  customs,  which  surely  were  those  of 
our  former  ancestors. 

"  But  from  these  facts  some  general  ideas  may  be 
deduced,  very  important  for  the  study  of  the  origin 
of  morals. 

"The  animal  kingdom  altogether  ignores  modesty, 
and  yet  love,  considered  as  an  exclusive  sentiment, 
does  not  seem  to  be  foreign  to  all  animals.  The 
delicacy  with  which  the  males  of  certain  species  of 
birds  court  and  love  their  females,  is  such  as  to  bring 
shame  not  only  to  savage  humanity  but  to  many 
so-called  civilised  peoples.  To  the  Illinois  parrakeet 
[Psittacus  pertinax),  widowhood  and  death  are  synony- 
mous; but  even,  when  these  monogamists  are  constant, 
these  animals  ignore  modesty.  Why  therefore,  and 
how  is  it,  that  this  sentiment  plays  so  considerable  a 
part  in  the  morality  of  the  superior  races  ?  Montaigne 
put  the  same  question  to  himself  when  he  wrote 
as  follows :  '  What  has  the  genital  act,  so  natural,  so 
necessary  and  so  just,  done  to  men,  that  it  may  not 
be  mentioned  without  shame  and  is  to  be  excluded  from 
serious  and  regulated  language?     We  boldly  say  kill, 

'  Schweinfurth,    The  Heart  of  Africa,  p.    152. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  185 

rob    and    betray,    and    dare    speak    of   the   other  only 
between  our  teeth.'     (Livre  III,  chap.  V). 

"This  is  one  of  those  questions  of  psychological 
evolution,  which  comparative  ethnography  alone  can 
clear  up. 

"  First  of  all  the  primitive  man  makes  no  moral  dis- 
tinction between  the  different  wants  which  solicit  him, 
between  hunger  and  love;  he  does  not  discuss  either 
of  them,  and  modesty  is  quite  as  unknown  to  him  as 
it  is  to  beasts.  But,  among  these  latter,  even  an  ex- 
clusive choice  does  not  engender  the  sentiment  of  mo- 
desty. It  is  that  this  sentiment  is  the  result  of  two 
combined  causes:  selection  and  life  in  society.  It  is 
not  delicacy  of  sentiment,  it  is  the  brutal  egotism  of 
the  primitive  man  that  has,  quite  involuntarily,  deter- 
mined the  genesis  of  decency  and  of  sexual  morality. 
The  first  seeds  of  these  high  sentiments  were  sown  when 
men,  liberating  themselves  from  the  primitive  promis- 
cuity, began  to  consider  women  as  private  property. 
The  chief  began  by  reserving  this  property  to  himself, 
protecting  it  as  well  as  he  could  from  the  enterprises 
of  other  men,  and  more  particularly  severely  punishing 
the  least  slip  of  his  wife  or  wives,  of  course  without 
subjecting  himself  to  any  restriction  whatever.  Little 
by  little,  thanks  to  these  brutal  prohibitions,  there  began 
to  germ  in  the  female  mind  a  certain  sentiment  of  con- 
jugal duty,  of  sexual  reserve,  a  care  to  veil  her  person 
more  or  less,  and  this  sentiment  ended  in  being  trans- 
mitted hereditarily. 

"  In  this  connection,  Polynesia  is  still  a  precious  field 
for  observation.  In  the  islands,  where,  as  at  Tahiti, 
the  sexual  liberty  was  pretty  nearly  unlimited,  the  mar- 
ried women  even  being  themselves  let  out  or  lent  by 
their   husbands   with  the  greatest  facility,  all  modesty 


186  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF 

was  unknown.  In  New  Zealand,  on  the  contrary,  where 
the  owners  of  women  were  more  jealous  of  their  rights, 
they  almost  invariably  punished  with  death  the  woman 
guilty  of  unauthorised  adultery,  which  they  authorised 
but  with  difficulty,  the  women  were  relatively  decent. 
Even  when  swimming,  or  during  their  sleep,  they  used  to 
keep  on  them  their  girdles  of  phormium  tenax  which 
encircled  their  waists.  ^ 

"  Before  giving  themselves  to  Europeans,  they  usually 
required  the  consent  of  their  family  or  of  their  husband 
and,  after  having  obtained  this  consent,  in  consideration 
of  a  proper  present,  it  was  still  necessary  to  negotiate 
with  them.  ^ 

"  Some  of  them  also  became  attached  to  their  European 
lovers  and  remained  faithful  to  them.  ^     The  men  did 

*  DupeiTey,  Hist.    Univ.  des    Voy.,  t.   XVIII,  p.    152. 

■Cook's  "First  Voyage  round  the  World." 

'  Editor's  note. — One  of  our  contributors,  Mr.  Costello,  communicates 
the  following: — "In  1843  a  cousin  of  mine  was  acting  as  surgeon  on 
board  one  of  H.M.  ships  which  anchored  off  New  Zealand  to  overhaul 
and  repair.  The  islands  were  then  almost  entirely  possessed  by  the 
Maoris,  and  one  of  the  chiefs,  who  had  met  with  an  accident,  sent  on 
board  to  ask  for  a  surgeon.  My  cousin,  a  handsome  young  Irishman, 
was  sent  ashore,  where  he  remained  several  weeks,  saying  that  he  had 
many  other  patients,  and  only  occasionally  visited  the  ship.  The  fact 
was  that  our  inflammable  Hibernian  had  been  captivated  by  the  charms 
of  the  chief's  lovely  daughter ;  a  sort  of  marriage  ceremony  was  performed, 
the  enamoured  doctor  promising  to  remain  with  the  Maoris  and  be  their 
'Medicine-man.'  The  ship  was,  however,  now  ready  to  sail,  and  the 
Captain  sent  an  order  to  the  surgeon  to  come  on  board  at  once.  In- 
stead of  obeying  he  ran  away  to  the  woods  with  his  Maori  wife.  This, 
however,  was  of  little  avail;  an  armed  party  of  seamen  discovered  his 
retreat  and  brought  him  forcibly  to  the  ship,  the  girl  following  and 
lamenting  behind.  As  the  ship  began  to  move,  she  could  be  seen 
from  the  deck,  as  standing  on  the  shore,  with  a  sharp  shell  she  cruelly 
cut  and  lacerated  her  face,  so  that  no  other  man  should  ever  afterwards 
take   a   fancy    to   her. — Later,  a  whaler  which  came  to  the  same  place. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  187 

not  consider  it  at  all  immoral  to  lend  or  to  let  out 
their  wives;  it  was  the  right  of  the  proprietor  of  the 
thing  possessed,  but  already  a  certain  jealousy  held 
them  back.  In  order  to  test  how  far  their  scruples 
went  with  regard  to  conjugal  faith,  as  we  read  in  the 
relation  of  Dumont  d'Urville,  Mr.  Gaimard  made  all 
sorts  of  offers  to  a  chief  in  order  to  obtain  the  favours 
of  his  wife,  but  this  rangatira  was  deaf  to  all  these 
seductions,  even  to  the  offer  of  an  ordinary  gun, 
simply  replying  each  time:  /rt^^c*  (sacred  or  forbidden). 
But  when  the  doctor  came  to  offer  him  in,  in  joke,  a 
double-barrelled  gun,  the  savage  chief,  incapable  of 
resisting  so  seductive  an  offer,  merely  answered  by 
pushing  his  wife  into  the  arms  of  the  stranger,  at  the 
same  time  extending  his  other  hand  for  the  gun."  ^ 

The  Woman's  Girdle.  The  costume  of  the  women 
is  as  rudimentary  as  that  of  the  men.  It  consists 
merely  of  a  girdle,  which  encircles  the  hips,  and  hardly 
hides  the  buttocks. 

A  Few^  Words  concerning  Manners  and  Customs. 

I  shall  deal  very  briefly  with  all  that  does  not  concern 
sexual  passion. 

The    Chief's    Place   in   the    Social    State.     The 

Chief  of  the  tribe  is  an  omnipotent  ruler, — a  monarch 
by  divine  right  and  by  heredity.  Salic  law  prevails 
throughout  the  entire  island.  The  Chief  is  a  kind  of 
god, — a  fetish.  Men  bow  down  at  his  approach. 
Women    are    even    still    more  unworthy  to  gaze  upon 

ascertained  that  the  poor  thing  did  not  long  survive,  but  had  died  of 
a  broken  heart." 

'  Voyage  de  1' Astrolabe,  p.    171. 


188  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS   OF 

his  venerated  face.  To  present  themselves  before  him. 
they  commence,  when  they  are  quite  a  hundred  yards 
distant,  to  go  on  all  fours,  and  to  complete  the  resem- 
blance to  an  animal,  they  fasten  to  their  girdle  a 
bundle  of  tow,  which  hangs  down  behind  like  a  horse's 
tail. 

The  Chief  has  a  kind  of  supreme  council,  composed 
of  the  most  renowned  warriors,  and  the  most  prudent 
and  experienced  old  men.  Peace  and  war  are  decided 
by  this  council;  cultivation  and  the  harvests  are  in 
common.  The  Great  Chief  by  divine  right  has  a  sort 
of  Mayor  of  the  Palace,  who  is  called  the  War  Chief; 
he  trains  the  warriors  to  military  tactics,  and  leads 
them  to  combat,  whilst  the  Great  Chief  prudently 
remains  within  his  tent,  far  remote  from  blows.  On 
the  death  of  the  Great  Chief,  everyone  in  the  tribe 
assumes  mourning,  which,  for  the  women,  consists  in 
whitening  the  upper  part  of  the  body  with  chalk,  and 
painting  the  face  black,  with  a  white  streak  at  the 
corner  of  the  nose,  and  the  eyebrows  painted  white. 
As  may  be  imagined,  this  funeral  masquerade  makes 
the  young  women  ugly,  and  renders  the  old  Popinees 
horrible.  Before  the  French  occupation,  the  fattest 
wives  of  the  deceased  Chief  were  knocked  on  the  head 
with  a  club,  and  eaten  at  a  funereal  piloii-pilou  per- 
formed in  his  honour. 

Habitations.  The  Kanaka  hut  is  of  the  shape  of 
a  bee-hive,  with  a  low  and  narrow  door  for  the  only 
opening.  In  the  centre  of  this  hive,  a  fire  burns 
incessantly,  and  on  it  is  thrown  the  refuse  of  the  cocoa- 
nut  tree,  to  drive  out  the  mosquitoes,  which  are  the 
curse  of  the  country.  No  European  can  remain  in 
one   of  these  huts,  on  account  of  the  vermin  and  the 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  189 

stench.  The  Chiefs  hut  is  higher  than  the  others,  as 
is  also  the  hut  of  the  Council  of  the  Old  Men.  On 
the  top  is  placed  a  fetish,  a  man  or  a  woman,  roughly 
carved,  and  with  the  genital  parts  out  of  all  proportion. 
The  whole  is  crowned  by  an  immense  weathercock, 
with  an  arrow  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  long,  and  a  star, 
the  symbol  of  the  Chief's  power. 

Food.  The  food  of  the  New  Caledonian  is  almost 
exclusively  vegetable  (taro,  yams,  patatas,  and  fruits). 
The  coast  tribes  also  eat  fish,  which  is  an  important 
addition  to  their  diet.  Before  the  arrival  of  the  Euro- 
peans,— with  the  exception  of  some  birds,  a  large  bat, 
the  rat,  and  the  dog, — there  were  no  animals.  The 
introduction  of  pigs  and  poultry  has  been  a  great 
benefit  to  the  Kanakas,  for  these  animals  require  hardly 
any  care. 

The  Kanaka  Stove.  To  roast  a  fish  or  a  pig,  the 
Kanaka  requires  neither  spit,  meat  screen,  nor  stove. 
The  savage  cook  lights  a  large  fire,  and  makes  red 
hot  therein  some  large  stones ;  then  digs  an  oval  hole 
in  the  ground,  the  size  of  the  joint,  and  puts  in  the 
bottom  the  hot  stones.  On  these  hot  stones  he  places 
the  fish  or  pig,  well  wrapped  up,  with  spices  inserted, 
in  banana  leaves.  Above  this  he  puts  some  leaves  of 
the  miaouli,  previously  damped ;  then  covers  the  whole 
with  earth,  and  lets  the  meat  cook  in  this  concentrated 
heat.  The  steam  mingles  with  the  acrid  aroma  of  the 
miaouli, — which  is  much  like  the  laurel  tree, — and  the 
joint  has  a  delicious  flavour.  That  is  how  the  cannibal 
cooks  his  dinner. 

Beliefs    and    Superstitions.      The   Kanaka   has  a 


190  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

vague  idea  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  which  will 
survive  the  body,  and  depart  into  another  world, — a 
veritable  Mohammedan  paradise,  where  it  will  dance  in- 
terminable pilou-pilous ,  stuff  itself  with  yams,  and 
everyone  will  have  as  many  women  as  he  wants. 

He  believes  also  in  the  ghosts  or  manes  of  his  an- 
cestors and  others, —  strange  beings  who  interfere  for 
good  or  evil  in  this  world,  and  are  the  cause  of  favour- 
able or  unfavourable  events.  Amongst  these  spirits 
of  the  dead,  those  of  the  chiefs  have  the  greatest  power, 
and  public  prayers  are  addressed  to  them,  to  cause  a 
good  crop  of  yams,  or  a  good  haul  of  fish.  As  may 
be  guessed,  the  authority  of  a  Chief  is  therefore  never 
questioned  by  his  subjects. 

The  Wizard-doctor  (Takata).  The  Takata  is  at 
once  wizard,  physician,  and  the  buffoon  of  the  Chief, 
whom  he  amuses.  He  is  the  interpreter  of  the  spirits, 
to  whom  he  is  reputed  to  talk,  is  doctor  to  the  whole 
tribe,  and  also  casts  spells  and  enchantments,  like  the 
sorcerer  of  the  Middle  Ages.  To  cause  an  enemy  to 
die,  the  Kanaka  applies  to  the  Takata,  who  makes  a 
statuette,  carries  it  to  the  grave-yard,  and  buries  it 
with  various  invocations  to  the  spirits  of  the  dead. 
Does  he  wish  the  canoe  of  an  enemy  to  founder? — he 
buries  a  small  canoe.  Does  he  wish  to  "  put  a  spoke 
in  the  wheel"  of  a  favoured  rival? — the  Takata  makes 
an  enormous  Priapus,  upon  which  the  person  requiring 
the  spell  makes  water,  uttering,  at  the  same  time,  some 
mysterious  words  which  the  sorcerer  has  taught  him. 
The  charm  will  work  if  he  can  slip  the  figure  of  the 
Priapus  between  the  legs  of  his  rival,  whilst  he  is  sleeping. 
To  spoil  the  fishing  of  a  neighbouring  tribe,  a  young 
girl    takes   off  her    girdle  on  the  beach.     If  only  one 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  191 

of  the  crew  has  erotic  desires,  no  fish  will  be  caught. 
This  superstition  especially  prevails  upon  the  East  coast. 

Killing  the  God.  This  curious  belief  in  regard  to 
fishes  is  not  confined  to  the  Kanaka  alone.  Mr  J.  C. 
Frazer,  with  whom  I  have  had  the  pleasure  to  converse 
on  these  matters  at  Cambridge  University  in  years 
gone  by,  and  who  has  frequently  rendered  me  valuable 
help,  has  consecrated  a  few  lines  to  this  interesting 
subject  of  piscine  folk-lore  in  his  carefully  documented 
work,  "  The  Golden  Bough,  a  study  in  Comparative 
Religion"  (London,  Macmillan,  1890).  He  says,  in 
the  chapter  entitled  "  Killing  the  God  "  :  "A  tribe  which 
depends  for  its  subsistence,  chiefly  or  in  part,  upon 
fishing  is  careful  to  treat  the  fish  with  every  mark  of 
honour  and  respect.  The  Indians  of  Peru  adored  the 
fish  that  they  caught  in  greatest  abundance";  for 
they  said  that  the  first  fish  that  was  made  in  the  world 
above  (for  so  they  named  Heaven)  gave  birth  to  all 
other  fish  of  that  species,  and  took  care  to  send  them 
plenty  of  its  children  to  sustain  their  tribe.  For  this 
reason  they  worshipped  sardines  in  one  region,  where 
they  killed  more  of  them  than  of  any  other  fish  ;  in  others, 
the  skate ;  in  others,  the  dogfish ;  in  others,  the  golden 
fish  for  its  beauty ;  in  others,  the  crawfish ;  in  others, 
for  want  of  larger  gods,  the  crabs,  where  they  had 
no  other  fish,  or  where  they  knew  not  how  to  catch 
and  kill  them.  In  short,  they  had  whatever  fish  was 
most  serviceable  to  them  as  their  gods.  •  The  Otawa 
Indians  of  Canada,  believing  that  the  souls  of  dead 
fish  passed  into  other  bodies  of  fish,  never  burned  fish 

'  Garcilasso  de  la  Vega,  Royal  Commentaries  of  the  Yncas,  First 
Part,  bk.  i.  ch.  10,  vol.  I,  p.  49  sq.,  Hakluyt  Society.  Cp.  id.,  II, 
p.    148. 


192  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

bones,  for  fear  of  displeasing  the  souls  of  the  fish,  who 
would  come  no  more  to  the  nets.  '     The  Hurons  also 
refrained   from  throwing  fish   bones  into  the  fire,  lest 
the    souls    of  the   fish  should   go  and  warn  the  other 
fish  not  to  let  themselves  be  caught,  since  the  Hurons 
would  burn  their  bones.     Moreover,  they  had  men  who 
preached  to  the  fish  and  persuaded  them  to  come  and 
be  caught.     A  good  preacher  was  much  sought  after, 
for  they  thought  that  the  exhortations  of  a  clever  man 
had    a    great    effect    in    drawing   the  fish  to  the  nets. 
In  the  Huron  fishing  village,  where  the  French  missionary 
Sagard  stayed,  the  preacher  to  the  fish  prided  himself 
very  much  on  his  eloquence,  which  was  of  a  florid  order. 
Every    evening  after  supper,  having  seen  that  all  the 
people   were   in    their  places,  and  that  a  strict  silence 
was  observed,  he  preached  to  the  fish.     His  text  was 
that   the  Hurons  did  not  burn  fish  bones.     '  Then  en- 
larging  on   his   theme  with  extraordinary  unction,  he 
exhorted   and   conjured    and   invited  and  implored  the 
fish  to  come  and  be  caught,  and  to  be  of  good  courage, 
and  to  fear  nothing,  for  it  was  all  to  serve  their  ftiends 
who    honoured   them  and  did  not  burn  their  bones.'  ^ 
The  disappearance  of  herring  from  the  sea  about  He- 
ligoland,   in    1530,  was  attributed  by  the  fishermen  to 
the   fact    that  two  lads  had  whipped  a  freshly-caught 
herring   and   then    flung    it  back  into  the  sea.  ^     The 
natives  ot  the  Duke  of  York  Island  annually  decorate 
a  canoe  with  flowers  and  ferns,  lade  it,  or  are  supposed 
to   lade    it,    with  shell -money,  and  set  it  adrift  to  pay 

'  Relations  des  Jisuites,   1667,  p.    12. 

*  Sagard,  Le  Grand  Voyage  du  Pays  des  Hurons,  p.  255  sqq. 
(p.    178  sqq.  of  the  Paris  reprint). 

'  Scheiden,  Das  Salz,  p.  47.  For  this  reference  I  am  indebted  to 
my  friend  Prof.  W.  Robertson  Smith. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  193 

the  fish  for  those  they  lose  by  being  caught,  i  It  is 
especially  necessary  to  treat  the  first  fish  caught  with 
consideration,  in  order  to  conciliate  the  rest  of  the  fish, 
for  their  conduct  may  be  supposed  to  be  influenced 
by  the  reception  given  to  the  first  of  their  kind  which 
is  taken.  Accordingly,  the  Maoris  always  put  back 
into  the  sea  the  first  fish  caught,  'with  a  prayer  that 
it  may  tempt  other  fish  to  come  and  be  caught.'  ^ 

"  Still  more  stringent  are  the  precautions  taken  when 
the  fish  are  the  first  of  the  season.  On  salmon  rivers, 
when  the  fish  begin  to  run  up  the  stream  in  spring, 
they  are  received  with  much  deference  by  tribes  who, 
like  the  Indians  of  the  Pacific  Coast  of  North  America, 
subsist  largely  upon  a  fish  diet.  In  British  Columbia 
the  Indians  used  to  go  out  to  meet  the  first  fish  as 
they  came  up  the  river.  'They  paid  court  to  them, 
and  would  address  them  thus :  "  You  fish,  you  fish ; 
you  are  all  chiefs,  you  are;  you  are  all  chiefs."'* 
Amongst  the  Thlinket  of  Alaska  the  first  halibut  of 
the  season  is  carefully  handled,  addressed  as  a  chief, 
and  a  festival  is  given  in  his  honour,  afler  which  the 
fishing  goes  on.  *  In  spring,  when  the  winds  blow 
soft  fi-om  the  South,  and  the  salmon  begin  to  run  up 
the  Klamath  river,  the  Karoks  of  California  dance  for 
salmon,  to  ensure  a  good  catch.  One  of  the  Indians, 
called  the  Kareya  or  God-man,  retires  to  the  mountains 
and  fasts  for  ten  days.  On  his  return  the  people  flee, 
while   he   goes   to   the  river,  takes  the  first  salmon  of 

'  W.   Powell,    IVanderings  in  a    Hild  Country,  p.   66  sq. 

*  R.  Taylor,  Te  Ika  a  Mauri ;  or.  New  Zealand  and  its  Inhabitants, 
p.  200 ;  A.  S.  Thomson,  The  Story  0/  New  Zealand,  I,  ,'?02 ;  E. 
Treger,  "  The  Maoris  of  New  Z^al^nd,"  Journal  Ant hr op.  Inst.  XIX,  109. 

'  Lubbock,    Origin  of  Civilisation,  p.  277,  quoting  Metlahkadah,  p.  96. 

*  W.  Dall,  Alaska  and  its  Resources,  p.  413. 


194  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS  OF 

the  catch,  eats  some  of  it,  and  with  the  rest  kindles 
the  sacred  fire  in  the  sweating-house.  'No  Indian 
may  take  a  salmon  before  this  dance  is  held,  nor  for 
ten  days  after  it,  even  if  his  family  are  starving. 
The  Karoks  also  believe  that  a  fisherman  will  take  no 
salmon  if  the  poles  of  which  his  spearing-booth  is  made 
were  gathered  on  the  river-side,  where  the  salmon 
might  have  seen  them.  The  poles  must  be  brought 
from  the  top  of  the  highest  mountain.  The  fisherman 
will  also  labour  in  vain  if  he  uses  the  same  poles  a 
second  year  in  booths  or  weir,  'because  the  old 
salmon  will  have  told  the  young  ones  about  them.'  * 

"  Among  the  Indians  of  the  Columbia  River,  '  when 
the  salmon  make  their  first  appearance  in  the  river, 
they  are  never  allowed  to  be  cut  crosswise,  nor  boiled, 
but  roasted;  nor  are  they  allowed  to  be  sold  without 
the  heart  being  first  taken  out,  nor  to  be  kept  over 
night,  but  must  be  all  consumed  or  eaten  the  day 
they  are  taken  out  of  the  water.  All  these  rules  are 
observed  for  about  ten  days.'  ^  They  think  that,  if 
the  heart  of  a  fish  were  eaten  by  a  stranger  at  the 
beginning  of  the  season,  they  would  catch  no  more 
fish.  Hence,  they  roast  and  eat  the  hearts  themselves.  ^ 
There  is  a  favourite  fish  of  the  Ainos  which  appears 
in  their  rivers  about  May  and  June.  They  prepare 
for  the  fishing  by  observing  rules  of  ceremonial  purity, 
and  when  they  have  gone  out  to  fish,  the  women  at 
home  must  keep  strict  silence,  or  the  fish  would  hear 

'  Stephen  Powers,    Tribes  of  California,  p.   31    sq. 

'  Alex.  Ross,  Adventures  of  the  First  Settlers  on  the  Oregon  or 
Columbia  River,  p.  97. 

*  Ch.  Wilkes,  Narratives  of  the  U.S.  Exploring  Expedition,  IV, 
324,  V.  119,  where  it  is  said,  "a  dog  must  never  be  permitted  to  eat 
the  heart  of  a  salmon ;  and  in  order  to  prevent  this,  they  cut  the  heart 
of  the  fish  out  before  they  sell  it." 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  19S 

them  and  disappear.  When  the  first  fish  is  caught  he 
is  brought  home  and  passed  through  a  small  opening 
at  the  end  of  the  hut,  but  not  through  the  door;  for 
if  he  were  passed  through  the  door,  '  the  other  fish 
would  certainly  see  him  and  disappear.'  ^  This  explains 
the  custom  observed  by  other  savages  of  bringing 
game  into  their  huts,  not  by  the  door,  but  by  the 
window,  the  smoke-hole,  or  by  a  special  opening  at 
the  back  of  the  hut."  ^ 

*  H.    C.    St.  John,   "The  Ainos"  m  Journ.  Anthrop.  Inst.  II,   253; 
id.  Notes  and  Sketches  from  the    Wild  Coasts  of  Nipon,  p.   27  sq. 

*  Scheft'er,  Lapponia,  p.  242  sq.;  Journ.  Anthrop.  Instit.  VII,   207; 
Revue  d' Ethnographie,  II,   308   sq. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Moral  characteristics  of  the  Kanaka. —  Causes  of  the  insurrection 
of  [3y8. — The  Kanaka's  courage. — His  iveapons. —  The  attack  on 
the  post  at  Foa. — Heroic  death  of  sixteen  warriors. — Fe.ocity  of 
the  Kanaka.  —  The  philosophy  of  man-eating.  —  De7)ourers  of  their 
own  offspring. — Men  eaten  to  win  glory. — Anthropophagy  a 
motive  for  war. — Dogs  v.  women  at  Terra  dd  Fuego.  —  Flagrante^ 
delicto  of  animalitv. —  Cannibalism. — Its  causes.  —  The  "pilou- 
pilou" . —  The  erotic  " pilou-pilou" . — Scenes  of  cannibalism.  —  The 
massacres  of  the  "  Alcmena" ,  and  la  Poya.  —  The  Chief's  part 
in  the  feast  of  human  flesh. — The  reward  of  the  French  Government. 

Moral    Characteristics    of    the    Kanaka.     The 

Kanaka  is  nothing  but  a  big  boy;  he  has  all  the  worst 
instincts  of  the  child, — he  is  ferocious,  cruel,  and  pitiless, 
but  he  is  a  man  endowed,  as  we  are,  with  moral  sense. 
He  is  distinguished  by  a  blind  obedience  to  his  Chief. 
The  Chief  has  but  to  command  him,  and  he  will  obey. 
He  does  not  think  himself  a  whit  inferior  to  civilised 
man,  and  does  not  fear  him.  Moreover,  the  colonist, 
with  whom  alone  he  has  the  opportunity  of  comparing 
himself,  is  not  remarkable  for  morality.  The  Kanaka 
thinks  our  civilisation  is  too  complicated,  and  he  sin- 
cerely pities  the  White  man  who  cannot  exist  without 
aU  the  apparatus  of  Government.  There  are  only  two 
things  he  envies  us, — alcohol,  and  weapons  of  precision. 
At  bottom  he  is  honest  and  in  that  respect  differs  radically 
from  the  Annamite,  who  is  as  thievish  as  a  magpie. 
You    may  leave   A\'ithin   his   reach  the  things  he  most 

196 


UNTRODDEN  FIELDS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY.    197 

likes,  food,  meat,  wine,  and  spirits  even,  and  he  will 
touch  nothing.  You  may  leave  upon  the  wharf  all 
the  provisions  destined  for  some  European  post,  and  the 
Kanaka  will  even  help  you  to  load  them,  but  he  will 
steal  nothing.  He  is  generous.  Give  a  Kanaka  a 
bottle  of  brandy,  or  something  good  to  eat,  and  he  will 
share  it  with  his  companions.  He  is  very  proud,  and 
feels  an  insult  deeply.  In  spite  of  the  injury  done  by 
the  cattle  of  the  colonists,  which  deA^oured  his  fields  of 
taro  and  yams,  the  Kanaka  would  never  have  revolted, 
if  the  gendarmes  of  la  Poya  had  not  been  so  imprudent 
as  to  arrest  the  chiefs  of  thirteen  tribes,  and  handcuff 
them.  The  next  day  the  whole  of  the  thirteen  tribes 
had  revolted. 

Causes  of  the  Insurrection  of  1878.  The  insur- 
rection of  the  Kanakas  commenced  with  the  murder 
of  the  gendarmes  of  la  Poya,  and  the  pillage  and 
burning  of  the  colonists'  houses  followed.  It  became  a 
war  of  races.  The  attack  on,  and  destruction  of,  the 
gendarmerie  was  led  by  a  young  Kanaka,  who  had 
been  broug'ht  up  amongst  the  gendarmes.  A  little 
later,  I  shall  have  a  few^  remarks  to  make  on  the  part 
played  by  certain  other  Kanakas,  who  had  been  educated 
amongst  Europeans. 

The  Courage   of  the   Kanaka.  — His  Weapons. 

The  insurrection  showed  fully  the  courage  of  the 
Kanaka,  who  with  nothing  but  the  primitive  weapons 
of  barbarism,  dared  to  attack  civilised  men,  armed 
with  the  most  perfect  engines  of  modem  warfare. 

The  principal  weapon  of  the  Kanaka  is  the  tamio, 
a  small    axe    with   a  long  handle,  or  the  club  with  a 


198  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

head  like  a  bird's  beak.  This  is  the  weapon  for  close 
combat.  For  fighting  at  a  distance,  he  has  a  sling, 
which  throws  polished  oval  stones,  then  three  or  four 
darts  of  thin  flexible  wood,  which  he  hurls  from  a 
distance  of  fifteen  or  twenty  paces,  like  the  Roman 
legionary  who  threw  his  pilum,  and,  at  close  quarters, 
he  uses  the  tamio,  or  the  club.  With  these  pre-historic 
weapons,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  attack  brave  soldiers 
armed  with  Chassepots,  or  colonists  provided  with 
Lefaucheux  rifles,  or  English  breech-loading  Sniders. 
The  Chassepots  and  Sniders  which  the  Kanakas 
captured  at  the  outbreak  of  the  insurrection,  became, 
in  their  hands,  terrible  weapons.  If  the  tribes  of  the 
North  and  East,  instead  of  declaring  for  us,  had  also 
revolted,  all  the  Europeans  in  the  interior  would  have 
been  massacred,  and  Noumea  blockaded.  It  would 
have  required  a  formidable  expedition,  sent  from  France, 
to  relieve  the  remaining  Europeans. 

In  spite  of  the  help  given  by  those  tribes  which 
remained  faithful,  it  took  two  years  to  put  down  the 
insurrection.  A  good  description  of  the  fighting  can 
be  found  in  Commandant  Riviere's  book. 

The  Attack  on  the  Post  of  La  Foa.  I  have 
stated  that  the  very  fact  of  these  badly  armed  Kanakas 
revolting,  was  a  proof  of  their  courage.  An  instance 
of  this  courage  is  given  by  Commandant  Riviere,  who 
relates  that  an  attack  was  made,  by  daylight,  on  the 
post  of  la  Foa,  which  was  protected  by  palisades,  and  a 
"  blockhouse  "  furnished  with  quick-firing  guns.  These 
so-called  savages  must  have  had  an  astonishing  courage 
to  undertake  such  an  enterprise.  The  attack,  however, 
failed,  though  it  was  led  with  considerable  skill.  For 
two  hours  the  Kanakas  hurled  stones  fi-om  their  slings 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  199 

at   the   palisade   and   blockhouse,    in    spite    of  a  well- 
directed  fire  from  the  breech-loading  guns. 

Heroic  Death  of  sixteen  Warriors.  I  will  quote 
here  another  instance,  which  I  heard  from  an  officer 
employed  in  one  of  the  flying  colum.ns  sent  against 
the  Kanakas.  The  insurrection  had  been  put  down, 
and  the  remnants  of  the  tribes  were  being  pursued,  in 
order  that  they  might  be  captured  and  transported  to 
Pine  Island.  A  tribe  (that  of  the  great  Farinos)  was 
surrounded  by  the  column,  aided  by  the  warriors  of 
the  friendly  tribe  of  the  Kondis.  The  rebel  Chief 
assembled  all  his  warriors,  and  explained  to  them  the 
impossibility  of  continuing  the  struggle,  and  that,  to 
save  the  lives  of  the  children  and  old  men,  it  would 
be  better  to  surrender,  and  give  up  their  arms.  Sixteen 
warriors  replied  that  they  preferred  death  to  slavery. 
These  sixteen  fought  to  the  last  gasp,  against  more  than 
a  hundred  Kanakas,  who  struck  them  down  with  darts, 
and  stones  from  their  slings.  To  my  mind,  their  action 
was  quite  as  noble  as  that  of  Leonidas  at  Thermopylae. 

Ferocity  of  the  Kanaka.  But  it  cannot  be  denied 
that,  in  spite  of  his  bravery,  the  Kanaka  is  ferocious, 
and  his  ferocity  is  mingled  with  cunnmg.  All  the 
colonists  who  were  killed,  were  murdered  by  Kanakas 
they  believed  to  be  friends,  and  struck  from  behind 
at  the  moment  when  they  least  expected  it.  A  Kanaka 
entered  the  house  of  a  colonist  in  a  friendly  way,  and 
asked  for  a  bit  of  biscuit,  a  leaf  of  tobacco,  or  a  glass 
of  tafia ;  when  his  victim  turned  or  stooped,  to  get 
the  article  demanded,  he  was  struck  on  the  back  of 
the  head  with  a  tamio.  Many  of  the  colonists,  hearing 
of  the  massacre  of  their  neighbours,  assembled  together, 


200  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

armed  with  their  guns,  but  the  Kanakas  they  deemed 
their  friends,  and  who  had  been  charged  by  their  chief 
to  murder  them,  told  them  to  fear  nothing,  and  they 
would  be  guarded  and  protected.  The  unhappy  wretches, 
men,  women,  and  children,  fell  under  the  clubs  of  their 
pretended  defenders.  The  general  massacre  of  the 
Whites  was  systematically  arranged.  If  the  insurrection 
had  been  universal  amongst  all  the  tribes,  not  a  colonist 
would  have  remained  alive. 

Only  two  instances  are  known  in  which  a  Kanaka 
took  pity  on  a  White,  and  warned  him  that  if  he  did 
not  fly  he  would  be  murdered.  But  in  extenuation  of 
the  conduct  of  the  Kanaka,  it  should  be  said  that  he 
was  crushed  and  ill-treated  by  the  colonists,  his  planta- 
tions were  ravaged  by  their  cattle,  he  was  mercilessly 
overworked,  insulted,  and  often  beaten.  I  am  not  ex- 
cusing the  Kanaka;  I  am  simply  stating  facts.  The 
greatest  massacres  took  place  in  that  part  of  the  island 
where  the  Whites  were  most  mixed  with  the  natives, 
and  they  were  struck  down  by  these  natives  who  used 
to  come  most  frequently  to  their  houses. 

The  Philosophy  of  Man-eating.  Professor  Letour- 
neau  ^  has  made  an  extensive  study  of  this  subject 
based  on  reports  of  travellers.  His  observations  are 
so  pertinent  that  we  may  be  excused  for  quoting 
them.  "  In  a  curious  chapter  of  his  '  Essays,'  that 
incarnation  of  common  sense,  by  name  Montaigne, 
wrote  as  follows :  '  I  think  that  there  is  more  barbarity 
in  eating  a  live  man  than  to  eat  him  when  he  is 
dead;  to  tear  to  pieces  by  torments  and  by  gehennas 
a    body    full   of  feeling,    to   roast  it  little  by  little,  to 

*  In  his  profound  work,  L' Evolution  de  la  Morale,  Paris  1894,  of 
which  an  edition  bowdlerised — as  usual,  has  appeared  in  English. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  201 

deliver  it  to  be  bitten  and  torn  by  dogs  and  swine 
(as  we  have  not  only  read  of,  but  ourselves  have  seen 
in  recent  times,  not  between  old  enemies,  but  between 
neighbours  and  fellow-citizens,  and  what  is  worse, 
under  pretence  of  piety  and  of  religion)  tnan  to  roast 
and  eat  him  after  he  is  dead.' 

"  From  the  strictly  utilitarian  point  of  view,  Montaigne 
seems  to  be  in  the  right.  It  is  evident  that  the  real 
crime  consists  in  killing  a  man  and,  when  the  crime 
is  committed,  as  it  happens  in  civil  and  religious 
wars,  with  the  approval  of  a  perverted  moral  sense, 
the  crime  is  then  still  more  lamentable.  Nevertheless, 
cannibalism  is  a  moral  aggravation  of  homicide.  It 
amounts  to  pushing  to  the  utmost  extremes  the  con- 
tempt of  one's  neighbour;  it  means  rigorously  to 
assimilate  man  to  game  or  to  a  domestic  animal. 

"  Besides,  ethnography  throughout  attests  the  reality 
of  this  assimilation.  Only  the  human  races  that  have 
remained  at  the  lowest  degree  of  savagery,  practise 
cannibalism  in  its  primitive  and  absolutely  bestial 
form.  As  the  moral  sense  begins  to  form  and  the 
intelligence  becomes  more  developed,  man  is  more 
and  more  ashamed  of  cannibalism.  He  limits  its 
practice,  dissimulates  it  and  finally  succeeds  in  reducing 
it  to  a  pure  symbol.  In  this  embryonic  stage,  and  as  a 
survival,  anthropophagy  persisted  for  a  long  time,  even 
into  the  very  heart  of  the  latest  phases  of  morality. 
It  is  only  in  its  altog-ether  primitive  form,  when  it  is 
practised  openly,  and  simply,  that  it  is  the  characteristic 
of  bestial  morals.  This  evolution  of  cannibalism  is 
curious.  I  will  briefly  review  its  principal  stages.  At 
the  outset  man  is  to  another  man  as  one  animal  is  to 
another,  not  only  is  the  enemy  devoured,  that  is  to 
say   a   competitor   on  the  other  side  of  such  and  such 


202  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS  OF 

a  brook  or  mountain,  but  often  even,  in  case  of 
necessity,  the  women,  the  children  and  old  men  of 
their  own  tribe.  Afterwards,  cannibalism  becomes 
restricted,  except  in  case  of  famine,  to  enemies. 

"  Restriction  now  follows  restriction ;  for  conscience 
becomes  more  sensitive,  and  on  the  other  hand,  with 
the  progress  of  civilisation,  the  food  supplies  become 
less  precarious.  As  a  rule  religion  is  also  mixed  up 
with  it,  and  it  regulates  and  consecrates  anthropo- 
phagy. Little  by  little,  it  finishes  by  limiting  the 
practice  to  rare  and  exceptional  cases,  and  even  brings 
it  down  to  be  no  longer  anything  but  a  religious  cere- 
mony, and  to  make  it  symbolical.  Under  this  last 
form,  cannibalism  may  continue  to  exist  even  among 
the  most  advanced  civilisations.  In  1874,  at  the  An- 
thropological Congress  at  Bologna,  Carl  Vogt  not  a 
little  scandalised  certain  of  his  auditory  when  he  said 
that  he  could  trace  and  note  in  the  Catholic  mass  a 
last  vestige  of  the  anthropophagy  of  our  ancient  an- 
cestors; and  yet  Carl  Vogt  was  right. 

"  But  religious  anthropophagy  is  not  its  only  atten- 
uated form  derived  from  ancient  cannibalism.  Juristic 
anthropophagy  also  competes  with  it,  and  can  also 
co-exist  with  a  relatively  advanced  stage  of  civilisation. 
We  shall  have  to  speak  of  the  judicial  anthropophagy 
of  the  Battaks  of  Sumatra,  who  till  quite  recently  con- 
demned adulterers,  night-robbers  and  others  to  be  eaten. 

"  But  it  is  with  the  lower  forms  of  cannibalism  that 
we  have  to  do  at  present.  The  lowest  of  all  is  bestial 
anthropophagy,  having  for  sole  motive  the  desire  and 
the  want  to  eat  meat  Cannibalism  out  of  greediness 
follows  very  closely,  and  cannibalism  out  of  vengeance, 
or  from  warlike  fury,  is  often  but  a  hypocritical  form 
of  the  same  " 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  203 

Devourers  of  their  Own  Offspring.  "  After 
having  laid  down  these  preliminaries,  we  can  now  enter 
upon  the  exposition  of  the  facts  and  will  begin  with 
Australia.  'In  this  country,'  says  Oldfield,  ^  'there 
exists  a  very  decided  taste  for  human  flesh.  The  flesh 
of  women  is  particularly  esteemed;  therefore  they  but 
rarely  attain  to  old  age.  The  men  look  upon  them 
as  beasts  of  burden,  domestic  animals,  which  may  be 
not  only  beaten,  w^ounded  and  killed  at  will,  but  also 
eaten  without  scruple.  As  Father  Salvado  *  says,  in 
times  of  dearth  they  are  sacrificed  without  hesitation.' 

"  Oldfield  goes  even  further:  'They  are  generally 
despatched,  says  he,  'without  the  least  scruple,  before 
they  become  old  and  thin,  lest  so  much  good  food 
should  be  lost ....  In  fact,  so  little  importance  is 
attached  to  them,  either  before  or  after  death,  that  it 
may  reasonably  be  questioned  whether  the  man  does 
not  put  his  dog,  when  it  is  alive,  on  absolutely  the 
same  level  as  his  wife,  and  whether  he  thinks  more 
frequently  and  more  tenderly  of  the  one  than  of  the 
other,  after  having  eaten  them  both.' 

"  Cunningham  also  relates  that,  in  the  bag  of  one  of 
the  Australians  of  his  suite,  he  found  a  woman's  neck 
put  by  as  food  reserve.  The  same  traveller  makes  a 
general  observation  proving  evidently  that  the  brutal 
practice  of  cannibalism  is  the  sign  of  an  altogether 
inferior  mental  condition.  According  to  him,  anthro- 
pophagy exists  in  Australia  particularly  among  the 
tribes  living  in  a  state  of  anarchy,  without  organisa- 
tion, where  the  brutal  force  of  the  individual  reigns 
uncontrolled,  that  is  to  say  among  the  least  intelli- 
gent of  the  tribes. 

Oldfield,   Historical  Memoirs  on  Australia. 
*  Trans.  Ethnol.  Soc.  (New  Series,  vol.  Ill,  p.   220). 


204  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS  OF 

"If  the  Australian  woman  is  frequently  devoured, 
by  reason  of  her  relative  weakness,  it  is  of  course 
still  more  often  so  with  regard  to  the  child,  who  is 
still  weaker. 

"'It  is  a  common  practice  in  Australia,'  says  Oldfield, 
'to  eat  children  in  times  of  famine.  Then,'  he  adds, 
'  the  mother  must  not  lament  too  loudly,  under  penalty 
of  being  beaten.  She  is  only  permitted  to  utter  some 
smothered  moans.  But,  however  great  may  be  the 
grief  of  the  mother,  it  is  appeased  when  she  is  offered 
her  legal  share,  the  child's  head,  which  she  begins  to 
eat,  although  she  continues  her  sobbing.'  ^  At  first 
sight  this  assertion  of  Oldfield  seems  incredible.  But 
it  surprises  less,  when  we  consider  the  psychology  of 
the  Australian,  who  is  a  very  curious  type  with  regard 
to  the  origin  and  formation  of  his  moral  sense.  The 
Australian  is  in  fact,  as  we  shall  see,  susceptive  of 
retaining  tenacious  mental  impressions,  barely  more 
reasoned  than  those  of  our  domestic  animals,  and 
which,  like  them,  he  obeys  instinctively. 

"  In  any  case  it  is  certain  that  the  Australian  is  quite 
willing  to  devour  his  own  children.  Sturt  ^  also  con- 
firms the  information  furnished  by  Oldfield.  He  relates 
in  fact,  that  an  Australian  smashed  on  a  stone  the 
head  of  his  sick  child,  which  he  then  roasted  and 
devoured." 

Men  eaten  to  "win  Glory.  "  Similar  customs,  but 
stamped  with  greater  brutahty,  used  to  reign  or  still 
reign  in  many  parts  of  the  Polynesian  archipelagos. 
At  Viti,  murder  and  cannibalism  were  not  only  abso- 
lutely  simple   things,    but   even    perfectly   honourable. 

'  Journal  of  two  Expeditions  of  Discovery  in  Australia,  etc.,  p.  286. 
'  Hist.    Univ.  des    Voyages  (vol.  XLIII,  p.  362). 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  20S 

A  man  was  more  esteemed  the  more  often  he  had  been 
covered  with  blood  and  gorged  himself  with  human 
flesh.  A  chief  of  Raki-Raki,  the  great  Ra-Undre- 
Undre,  used  to  glory  in  having  eaten  nine  hundred 
persons,  all  to  himself,  and  without  having  allowed 
anyone  else  to  have  a  share. 

"  A  VitHslander,  of  the  name  of  Loti,  who,  it  appears, 
afterwards  became  an  excellent  Christian,  roasted  his 
wife  on  a  fire  that  he  had  made  her  prepare  and  light 
herself;  he  then  cut  her  up  and  devoured  her:  all  that 
without  animosity  or  anger,  solely  to  acquire  notoriety, 
to  be  some  one  out  of  the  common.  The  love  of  glory, 
so  habitually  and  so  emphatically  vaunted  in  Europe 
by  the  panegyrists  of  heroes  is,  says  Pritchard,  ^  much 
developed  among  the  Viti  islanders,  and  there,  it  is 
to  great  murderers  and  great  cannibals  that  fame  is 
attached.  In  no  other  part  of  the  world  is  the  deviation 
so  striking  from  what  we  call  the  'moral  sense',  or 
rather  the  complete  absence  of  moral  ideas,  innate  and 
necessary  according  to  our  metaphysicians. 

"  But  it  is  necessary  to  point  out  at  once  that  we  have 
not  here  before  us  a  stupid,  sleepy  race.  The  Viti 
islanders  are  in  no  wise  inferior  to  the  other  Polynesians, 
with  whom,  besides,  they  are  largely  crossed  by  inter- 
marriage. But  among  them,  extreme  discredit  attaches 
itself  to  whoever  has  never  killed  and  eaten  an  enemy. 
In  that  case,  indeed,  the  culprit  was  subjected  to  a 
degrading  punishment ;  he  was  sentenced  to  turn  up 
the  mud  with  his  dishonoured  club,  which  he  had  not 
known  how  to  wield.  ^  But  with  that,  all  was  not 
finished  here  below.  After  human  justice  came  that 
of   the    gods.      In    the    future    life    of  the  Vitians,  the 

'  W.  T.   Pritchard,    Polynesian  Reminiscences,  p.    371. 
'  Wake,  Evolution  of  Morality,  vol.  I,  p.   323. 


206  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS  OF 

jealous  gods,  great  amateurs  of  human  blood,  lay  in 
waiting  for  the  shades  of  mortals  and  called  them 
severely  to  give  an  account  of  the  number  of  enemies 
they  had  massacred  and  eaten  during  their  passage  on 
the  earth. 

"  But,  at  the  Viti  Islands  as  at  New  Zealand,  which 
we  shall  soon  have  occasion  to  study,  and  where  the 
Melanesians  seem  to  have  preceded  the  Polynesians, 
cannibalism  was  absolutely  animal.  It  was  on  the 
field  of  battle  itself  that,  in  the  manner  of  wild  beasts, 
the  enemy,  wounded  or  prisoner,  was  torn  to  pieces 
and  devoured. 

"  Those  of  the  vanquished,  who  were  not  immediately 
sacrificed,  were  simply  put  by  in  reserve  for  future 
banquets.  They  were  therefore  fattened :  they  were 
then  slaughtered  and  eaten,  according  to  necessity. 
At  Viti,  human  flesh  was  much  prized.  Certain 
gourmets  allowed  it  to  become  'gamey.'  In  the 
language  of  the  country  it  was  called  'long  pork' 
meat,  and  it  was  the  rule  that  a  dish  of  human  meat 
should  be  served  at  all  gala  banquets.  It  was  the 
ideal  food,  and  to  vaunt  the  excellence  of  a  dish,  they 
would  say:     'It  is  as  tender  as  dead  man.'" 

Anthropophagy  a  Motive  for  War.  "  Similar  cus- 
toms, though  less  refined,  for  the  race  is  not  so  intelligent, 
prevailed  in  New  Caledonia.  The  desire  to  eat  human 
flesh  was  the  most  usual  motive  for  war  between  the 
tribes.  'It  is  now  a  long  time,  the  chiefs  would 
sometimes  say,  since  we  have  had  any  meat  to  eat: 
let  us  go  and  fetch  some.'  Sometimes,  as  M,  de  Rochas  * 
tells  us,  before  starting  on  the  war-path,  a  sort  of 
anthropophagic   poem,    an    alternate  dialogue  between 

'  De  Rochas,  Bull,  de  la  Soc.  d'Anthrop.  v.  I,  p.   414. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  207 

the  chief  and  the  warriors  was  sung :  '  Shall  we  attack 
the  enemies  ? — Yes. — Are  they  strong  ? — No. — Are  they 
brave? — No.— We  will  kill  them? — Yes. — We  will  eat 
them  ? — Yes.'  The  fight  ceased  as  soon  as  a  few  men 
had  been  killed.  The  cutting  up  of  the  dead  bodies 
was  a  joyful  and  glorious  ceremony.  It  was  preluded 
by  a  dance,  during  which  one  of  the  dancers  bore  a 
spear  in  one  hand,  and  in  the  other  a  special  instrument, 
destined  to  cut  up  the  bodies.  *  After  the  battle  the 
chiefs  picked  out  for  themselves  the  lion's  share  and 
put  apart  also  certain  choice  morsels,  destined  to  be 
sent  as  presents,  to  dubious  allies.  ^  But  it  was  not 
alone  war  cannibalism  that  existed  in  New  Caledonia, 
domestic  cannibalism  was  also  practised.  For  instance, 
a  provident  chief  would  now  and  then  slaughter  and 
salt  one  of  his  subjects,  so  as  to  be  able  to  have 
every  day  a  dish  of  meat.  ^  Another  chief,  whose 
name  is  legendary,  Bouarate  the  great,  used  often 
with  his  family  to  enjoy  a  good  meal  off  one  of  his 
inferior  subjects.  Public  opinion  in  New  Caledonia 
was  far  from  condemning  such  princely  modes  of 
action,  and  in  fact  Bouarate  has  left  behind  him  a 
brilliant  reputation :  '  Great  chief,  Bouarate !  Hand- 
some lord,  Bouarate!'  used  to  say  with  enthusiasm 
those  of  his  subjects  whom  he  had  not  yet  devoured.  * 
Paternal  love  itself  was  silent  before  so  much  glory. 
A  Neo-Caledonian  father  placidly  related  how  his 
child  had  been  eaten  by  his  prince,  who,  said  he,  was 
a  great  chief.  ^ 

'  D'Entrecasteaux,    Voyage  au  Pacifique. 
'  De   Rochas,   A'ouvelle   Caledonie,  p.    206. 

'  Bourgarel,    Race    de    VOceanie,    in    Mem.    de    la   Soc.   d\4nthrop. 
vol.  II. 

*  De  Rochas,  Nouv.   CaUdonie,  p.   246. 
^  Ch.  Braine,  Nouvelle  Cale'donie. 


208  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

"  To  sum  up,  at  the  Fiji  Islands  as  at  New  Caledonia, 
the  stranger,  member  of  another  tribe,  was  considered 
as  game,  while  the  women,  the  children  and  inferiors 
often  served  for  butchers'  meat." 

Dogs  V.  Women  at  Terra  del  Fuego.  "  At  this 
place,  woman  is,  as  in  Australial  and  in  many  other 
places,  an  object  of  food  provision.  Fitzroy  ^  saw  an 
old  woman  sacrificed,  at  a  moment  of  scarcity  of  food. 
She  was  suffocated  by  having  her  head  kept  for  a 
certain  time  in  the  smoke  of  a  fire  made  of  green 
sticks.  The  answer  given  to  the  remonstrance  of  the 
English  traveller  on  this  occasion,  is  quite  typical;  it 
puts  beyond  doubt  the  perfect  innocence,  the  absence 
of  scruple  with  which  these  to  us  so  horrible  acts  are 
committed  in  primitive  countries.  '  Why,'  said  Fitzroy, 
'do  you  not  rather  sacrifice  your  dogs? — The  dog 
catches  the  iappo''  (otter),  quietly  answered  the  natives. 

"  These  manners  are  not  special  to  such  and  such  a 
race,  to  such  and  such  a  country ;  they  are  to  be  met  with, 
almost  identically,  wherever  man  has  but  little  become 
disengaged  from  animality,  wherever  also  his  food  is 
scant  and  precarious.  Everywhere,  in  Melanesia,  in 
Africa,  in  America,  there  are  certain  tribes  who  have 
less  humanity  than  wolves. 

"  I  will  now  briefly  mention  a  few  more  of  these  in- 
structive cases  before  speaking  with  detail  of  Polynesian 
cannibalism,  more  specially  interesting  for  the  study 
of  the  evolution  of  morals. 

"  'The  Guarayos"  (South  America),  say  the  authors  of 
the  Lettres  edifiantes,  ^  'pursue  men  just  as  they  would 
pursue    beasts :  they  take  them  alive  if  they  can,  and 

'  Fitzroy,   Voyage  of  the  Adventure  and   of  the   Beagle. 
*  Lettres  e'difiantes,  t.  X,   p.   231. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  209 

carry  them  away  to  be  slaughtered  one  after  another 
according  as  the  necessity  of  hunger  becomes  felt.' 
Not  only  were  they  preserved  as  food  provision,  but 
they  were  fattened,  and  they  were  even  supplied  with 
wives;  then,  at  a  given  moment,  they  were  slaughtered 
with  great  ceremony,  care  being  taken  to  besmear  the 
male  children  with  their  blood,  in  order  that  they 
should  become  courageous.  The  victims,  quite  as 
ferocious  as  their  tormentors,  died  like  the  Red  Indians, 
striking  up  their  death-song,  during  which  they  defied 
their  tormentors,  reminding  them  of  how  many  of  their 
friends  and  relations  they  had  themselves  devoured. "  * 

Flagrante  Delicto  of  Animality.  "  As  to  bestial 
ferocity,  certain  Red  Indian  tribes  of  the  extreme 
North  are,  even  at  the  present  day,  quite  equal  to 
the  Guaranos  mentioned  by  the  ancient  missionaries. 
Let  us  give  ear  to  what  is  told  us  by  a  Brittany 
missionary,  Monsignor  Faraud,  Bishop  of  Mackensie, 
who  lived  for  many  years  amongst  tribes  that  had 
preserved  their  old  custom  :  'These  savages  ^,the  Dueel- 
deli-Ottine,  or  inhabitants  who  eat  men)  carry  their 
passion  for  anthropophagy  to  such  an  extreme  that  the 
mother  is  not  in  safety  with  her  child,  nor  the  children 
with  their  father.  Relations  eat  their  relations,  and 
friends  devour  each  other.  The  least  dearth  re-awakens 
in  their  heart  this  horrible  passion  and  then  the  strongest 
devours  the  weakest.'  ^  Other  Red  Skins,  neighbours 
of  the  above,  the  Cris,  practise  only  war  anthropophagy 
but  in  an  absolutely  bestial  manner.  On  the  battle- 
field itself,  the  victor,  having  scalped  his  vanquished 
enemy,  cuts  open  his  breast,  and  extracts  from  it  the 

'  Thevet,   Singularitc's  de  la  France  antarctique,  p.    187. 
'  Dix-huit  Arts  chez  Us  Sauvages,  p.  374. 


210  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

Still  palpitating  heart,  into  which  he  greedily  bites.  * 
"  These  atrocious  customs  exhibit  man  to  us  injlagrante 
delicto  of  animality.  They  alone  would  suffice  to 
set  at  naught  the  time  honoured  theory  of  innate, 
necessary  moral  ideas.  I  need  not  further  insist ;  there 
are  many  other  facts  which  will  come  to  confirm  these 
latter  and  constitute  a  superabundant  demonstration."  * 
We  will  now  return  to  our  Kanakas,  and  I  shall 
give  my  reasons  in  the  next  section  for  differing  with 
my  master,  Letourneau,  on  the  causes  that  give  rise,  at 
any  rate  amongst  these  people,  to  the  lust  after  human  flesh. 

Cannibalism. — Its  Causes.  The  food  of  the  Ka- 
naka, being  almost  entirely  vegetable, — especially 
amongst  the  tribes  of  the  interior  who  cannot  add  sea 
fish  to  their  diet, —is  not  sufficient  to  give  strength, 
and  sustained  resistance  to  fatigue.  The  Kanaka  eats 
enormously.  He  consumes  at  a  single  meal  quantities 
of  food  which  would  be  extraordinary  for  a  European, 
but  they  are  sugary  and  starchy  foods,  rich  in  carbon, 
but  poor  in  nitrogen.  He  lacks  convertible,  blood- 
making  food.  He  is  like  a  steam-engine  which  has 
the  furnace  loaded  with  coke,  and  no  water  in  the 
boiler.  In  the  expeditions,  the  auxiliaries,  although  less 
heavily  laden  than  our  soldiers,  were  worn-out  by  fatigue, 
whilst  the  Europeans  could  still  keep  on  marching. 
They  were  obliged  to  be  fed  on  biscuit  and  bacon. 

With  all  due  respect  to  the  vegetarians,  a  vegetable 
diet  is  nonsense.  No  vegetarian  could  undergo  the 
hard  work  and  fatigue,  which  a  meat-eater  could. 

"  Nothing    can    come   of   nothing,"    as   Shakespeare 

*  Dix-huit  Arts  chez  Us  Sauvages,  p.  374. 

*  Letourneau,  opus  cit. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  211 

says;  ^  to  have  muscle  you  must  have  meat.  The 
Kanaka  having  in  New  Caledonia  neither  poultry,  nor 
pork,  and  nothing  but  notous  (pigeons  as  large  as  a 
fowl),  ate  his  vanquished  enemy,  and,  by  atavism,  this 
depraved  taste  continued  to  exist  amongst  the  race 
after  the  introduction  of  the  pig  and  cattle.  The  most 
handsome  gift  you  can  make  a  Kanaka  is, — next  to  a 
gun, — a  quarter  of  salt  beef  Toussenel  ^  has  well 
described  cannibalism. 

"  Cannibahsm  is  one  of  the  diseases  of  the  childhood 
of  primitive  man,  that  poverty  explains,  though  it  does 
not  justify.  Let  us  pity  the  cannibal,  and  not  abuse 
him  too  much,  we  civilised  beings,  who  slay  millions 
of  men.  The  evil  is  not  so  much  in  roasting  your 
enemy,  as  in  killing  him  before  he  wanted  to  die." 

The  Pilou-pilou  is  an  important  factor  in  the  life 
of  the  Kanaka.  Nothing  can  be  done  without  a  pilou- 
pilou,  which  is  danced  in  war,  after  victory,  in  love, 
and  as  an  enjoyment.  Each  tribe  has  its  own  pilou- 
pilou,  differing  somewhat  from  that  of  other  tribes. 
It  would  take  too  long  to  describe  them  here,  but  I 
will  give  a  general  idea  of  the  principal  varieties  of 
the  dance. 

The  Pilou-pilou  of  War.  Only  the  warriors  take 
part  in  this.  They  are  in  war  paint,  that  is,  painted 
black,  with  white  marks  here  and  there  on  the  body, 
which  gives  them  a  most  diabolical  appearance,  and 
with   their   darts   and  tamios  in  their  hands.     A  large 

*  Our  author  has  slipped  here,  or  is  he  purposely  facetious  ?  "  Ex 
nthilo,  nihil  fit"  can  hardly  be  fathered  f)n  Shakespeare;  it  must  be 
considerably  older,  we  fancy,  than  William's  time. 

'  In  his  Zoologie  passionnelle. 


212  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

fire  is  lighted,  round  which  the  warriors  stand  in  a 
circle.  After  repeated  groans,  and  a  sharp  whistle, 
which  has  a  horrible  effect,  they  brandish  their  arms, 
leap,  grind  their  teeth,  and  make  awful  grimaces. 
Then  the  band  of  warriors  separates  into  two  circles, 
which  turn  round,  the  men  meanwhile  uttering  hoarse, 
guttural  cries  like  wild  beasts.  At  last  the  two  bands 
rush  at  each  other  with  savage  cries,  and  imitate  a 
deadly  combat.  I  was  present  at  Kone  at  a  pilou- 
pilou  of  this  kind,  and  I  could  not  prevent  giving  a 
shudder,  though  I  was  under  the  protection  of  the 
chief,  who  was  seated  beside  me. 

The  Pilou-pilou  of  Love.  The  women  take  part 
in  this  pilou-piloti,  which  is  intended  to  celebrate  the 
sports  of  love,  but  they  do  not  mingle  with  the  men. 
They  form  a  small  circle  within  that  of  the  men,  and 
dance  without  moving  from  their  place,  moving  their 
haunches  backwards  and  forwards  in  very  supple 
movements,  with  now  and  then  a  lascivious  kind  of 
leap.  This  is  an  imitation  of  the  movements  of  a 
woman  in  copulation.  The  men  dance  round  and  round 
them,  leaping,  bounding,  squatting,  and,  as  they  rise, 
pushing  their  bellies  forward  to  imitate  the  movement 
of  copulation. 

The  Pilou-pilou  of  the  Cannibals.  Although  the 
Kanaka  has  now  poultry  and  pork,  he  has  nevertheless 
retained  his  hereditary  taste  for  human  flesh.  I  was 
informed,  during  my  stay  in  New  Caledonia,  that  the 
tribe  of  Kanala  ate  from  time  to  time,  at  an  enormous 
piloii-pilo2i,  captives  of  some  of  t-he  insurgent  tribes 
captured  in  1878.  Not  having  seen  it,  I  cannot  say 
how  true  this  was,  but  I  can  give  extracts  from  trust- 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  213 

worthy  writers  to  prove  the  existence  of  this  horrible 
custom. 

In  the  first  place,  there  was  the  massacre  of  the 
boat's  crew  of  the  Alcmena.  The  ship's  long  boat 
was  sent  to  land,  to  get  water.  As  a  matter  of  form, 
three  rifles  were  put  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat. 
Fourteen  Whites,  of  whom  two  were  officers,  landed, 
and  a  quarter-master  and  two  sailors  remained  in  the 
boat.  These  last  heard  the  cries  of  their  comrades, 
and  guessing  that  they  were  being  massacred,  tried 
to  escape  by  swimming  to  the  vessel,  but  they  were 
overtaken  by  the  Kanakas,  brought  back  to  land,  and 
bound.  They  saw  their  unfortunate  comrades  cut  up, 
cooked,  and  eaten,  at  an  enormous  pilou-pilou. 

The  first  insurrection,  that  of  1868,  began  by  the 
massacre  of  a  sergeant  and  eight  men,  who  had  been 
sent  to  a  tribe  to  requisition  by  force  a  body  of  men 
to  construct  the  road  to  Noumea.  The  soldiers  were 
received  in  a  friendly  manner,  so  they  stacked  their 
arms,  and  separated.  They  were  immediately  struck 
down,  and  their  bodies  cut  to  pieces.  Some  of  their 
limbs  were  sent  to  all  the  neighbouring  tribes  who  were 
on  good  terms  with  the  murderers.  Those  which  ac- 
cepted this  new  kind  of  ^z^.?/,— there  were  three  other 
tribes, — declared  against  the  French.  It  took  eighteen 
months  to  subdue  these  four  tribes. 

An  eye-witness  of  the  insurrection  of  1878,  Paul 
Branda,  ^  gives  some  very  interesting  and  previously 
unpublished  details  concerning  this  insurrection,  and 
relates  several  instances  of  cannibalism.  "  During  the 
preparations  for  the  massacre,"  he  says,  "the  Kanakas 
surrounded  a  captain,  the  commander  of  the  district, 
an     enormously    fat    giant,    named    Chausson.      They 

*  In   his  book,   Les  Lettres  d'ltn  Marin, 


214  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

danced  a  pilou-pilou,  singing  in  chorus  'We  will  eat 
Chausson ! '  Then  each  warrior  advanced  in  turn, 
brandishing  his  arms.  One  said,  'Chausson,  I  will  eat 
your  hands ; '  another,  '  Chausson,  I  will  eat  your  feet,' 
and  they  all  gazed  longingly  at  the  fine  juicy  captain. 
The  worthy  man,  who  understood  the  language  of  the 
country,  laughed  heartily,  and  said,  '  What  funny  devils 
these  Kanakas  are.'  Twenty-four  hours  later,  the 
entire  tribe  was  up  in  arms,  crying,  'Let  us  go  and 
eat  Chausson. '  By  a  lucky  chance,  the  over-confiding 
commander  of  the  district  had  that  day  been  called  to 
Noumea,  and  so  escaped  the  teeth  of  his  admiring 
subjects.  " 

I  will  also  quote,  from  the  same  author,  an  account 
of  the  massacre  of  la  Poya.  "  The  insurgents  captured 
a  vessel,  laden  with  supplies  and  cartridges,  and  having 
a  crew  of  eleven  men.  The  unaccountable  delay  in 
the  arrival  of  this  ammunition  caused  great  uneasiness 
as  to  the  fate  of  the  vessel  and  its  crew,  and  a  steam 
launch,  fully  armed,  was  ordered  to  go  and  look  for 
it.  Our  sailors  soon  disturbed  the  horrible  feast  at 
which  the  Kanakas  were  celebrating  their  triumph. 
Near  the  feasting  place  were  the  trunks  of  men,  hor- 
ribly decomposed,  and  hidden  in  the  rushes  by  the 
river.  The  heads  had  been  cut  off  as  spoils  of  triumph, 
and  the  limbs  had  been  eaten. 

"  In  an  open  space  overshadowed  by  tall  trees,  near 
the  limpid  river  of  la  Poya,  were  chairs  and  sofas,  taken 
from  the  houses  of  the  colonists,  which  had  been  sacked, 
and  forming  a  circle.  In  the  middle,  as  the  centre 
piece  of  the  table,  was  a  putrefying  human  head.  Here 
and  there  lay  human  bones,  carefully  cleaned,  especi- 
ally the  shin  bones.  The  captain  of  the  boat  said, 
'They    are   to    make    flutes.'     In  baskets  hung  on  the 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  21S 

branches,  were  slices  of  grilled  flesh,  neatly  packed, 
and  of  an  appetising  odour ;  one  of  the  crew,  formerly 
a  pork-butcher,  said  they  were  pork ;  a  butcher  declared 
they  were  beef;  one  of  the  friendly  Kanakas  in  the 
crew,  said,  'That?  white  tayo!'  A  silence  of  terror 
and  horror  fell  upon  all  the  men.  The  grilled  flesh, 
and  the  few  bones,  were  piously  collected,  and  buried 
with  funeral  honours.  Of  course  this  was  very  proper, 
but  it  seemed  odd,  nevertheless,  to  accord  military 
honours  to  kitchen  scraps." 

A  little  further  on  the  same  author  adds,  "  Our  allies 
did  not  put  themselves  out  of  the  way  on  our  account ; 
they  ate  their  enemies  in  sight  of  our  soldiers.  The 
absolute  need  of  their  services  obliged  us  to  shut  our 
eyes.  The  chief  of  the  Kones  came,  and  presented  to 
the  colonel  four  left  ears.  'Why,'  said  the  colonel, 
'you  have  had  them  cooked!' — ^' Yes,' replied  the  chief, 
'  so  that  they  might  keep  good.'  After  having  received 
his  reward,  he  went  off  munchmg  the  ears. 

"  The  Government  paid  ten  francs  each  for  the  head 
of  every  rebel  Kanaka.  The  Arab  convicts,  who  were 
the  best  sharpshooters,  used  to  bring  in  the  ears  of 
those  they  killed,  in  order  to  claim  the  reward.  They 
were  accused  of  sometimes  bringing  women's  ears,  and 
after  that  they  used  to  bring  the  penis  and  testicles 
of  the  dead  Kanakas,  finding  the  head  rather  awkward 
to  carry  on  horseback." 

The  Chiefs  Share  in  the  Feast  of  Human  Flesh. 

I  will  terminate  these  few  remarks  relating  to  anthro- 
pophagy, by  an  account  of  the  chiefs  part  in  the  feast. 
Formerly,  long  before  the  advent  of  the  French — 
when  the  struggle  for  life  between  the  tribes  was  at 
its   height,    the   conquering   chiefs  used,  by  the  aid  of 


216  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

an  instrument  which  I  have  never  seen,  and  of  the 
shape  of  which  I  am  ignorant,  to  tear  out  the  genital 
parts,  the  heart,  and  the  eyes  of  the  conquered  chief. 
These  ferocious  warriors  did  not  content  themselves 
with  cooking  their  enemies  in  the  Kanaka  stove,  but 
preferred  to  devour  on  the  field  of  battle  the  parts  thus 
torn  off,  all  raw  and  bleeding.  They  thought  that  they 
should  thus  acquire  the  piercing  sight,  the  courage, 
and  the  virility,  of  their  adversaries.  This  custom  now 
is  nothing  more  than  a  tradition.  According  to  some 
travellers,  it  also  used  to  exist  among  the  Maoris  of 
New  Zealand. 

The   Reward   of  the  French  Government.    Of 

course,  these  customs  are  horrible,  but  it  must  be 
remembered  that  the  Kanaka  is  uncivilised.  What 
shall  we  say  though  to  the  action  of  the  French  Gov- 
ernment during  the  insurrection  ?  I  am  not  inventing 
statements,  but  again  quoting  from  Branda. 

"  We  found  allies  on  the  following  conditions ;  all 
the  spoil,  the  women,  and  ten  francs  for  every  head 
brought  in. 

"  The  Kanaka  mutilates  dead  bodies,  but  he  does  not, 
as  the  Indian  does,  wish  to  inflict  pain  on  his  enemy. 
On  the  other  hand,  I  have  heard  Europeans  seriously 
complain  of  the  incapacity  of  certain  officers,  who  would 
not  wring  information  from  prisoners  by  means  of 
torture."  • 

'The  "soft-hearted  party"  who  are  fearful  of  shedding  blood,  and 
whose  timorousness  is  too  often  the  cause  of  its  being  shed,  will  not 
accept  the  Jesuitical  doctrine  that  "the  end  justifies  the  means."  Yet 
in  primitive  societies  none  but  iron  measures  can  prevail,  and  the  man, 
or  tribe,  not  prepared  to  strike  hard  blows  runs  a  risk  of  being  wiped 
out    by    the    "other    side".     There    are  men  in  the  United  States  who 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  217 

maintain  that  the  perpetuation  of  criminal  families  can  be  prevented 
only  by  THE  AMPUTATION  OF  THEIR  REPRODUCTIVE 
ORGANS,  and  we  hope  to  deal  with  this  subject  in  a  future  work  on 
Eunuchs  and  Eunuchism. 

We  quote  the  following  from  THE  MEDICAL  WORLD:— 
"  The  matter  of  the  castration  of  those  who  persist  in  crime  is  receiving 
more  and  more  attention.  In  the  Legislature  of  Michigan  a  Bill  was 
introduced  which  provides  for  ASEXUALISATION.  Feeble-minded 
and  epileptics  who  become  inmates  of  the  feeble-minded  institution  of 
the  State,  'before  he  or  she  is  discharged,  shall  be  caused  to  submit 
to  an  operation  that  causes  asexualisation,  that  such  person  shall  cease 
to  be  able  to  reproduce  their  kind.'  All  persons  convicted  the  third 
time  for  felony,  and  those  convicted  of  having  ravished  a  child  or 
woman,  after  the  first  year's  incarceration,  must  submit  to  the  operation 
which  causes  asexualisation." 


CHAPTER  III. 

Forms  of  sexual  intercourse  amongst  the  Kanakas.  —  Jlie  Popine'e 
the  property  of  the  Chief.  —  The  Kanaka  marriagi.  —  Polyandry. — 
The  condition  of  the  Popine'e.  —  The  Kanaka  '^'^  break  wood"  the 
usual  method  of  copulation. — Accouchement. —  Vulvar  deformities 
produced  by  the  repeated  coition  of  the  Kanaka  Popine'es. — An 
original  form  of  punishment  for  adultery. — Not  confined  to  the 
Kanakas. — Mrs.  Potiphar  and  Joseph. — Lust  of  the  Kanaka  for 
the    White  ivoman. — The  head  chief  Atai  and  Mme  P*** 

The  Popinde  the  Property  of  the  Chief.  Every 
g^rl  of  the  tribe  is  born  the  property  of  the  Chief,  and 
his  rights  over  her  do  not  cease  until  the  time  vi^hen 
he  gives  her  to  his  warriors.  Until  then  he  can  sell 
her,  hire  her,  or  even  eat  her,  if  that  is  his  pleasure. 
The  Chief  of  Kone  would  not  sell  his  women  to  the 
Europeans,  but  he  let  them  out  on  hire.  Kake,  the 
Chief  of  the  Kanalas,  was  not  so  particular,  and  is  said 
to  have  sold  women  to  some  of  the  colonists.  I  was 
assured  that,  hardly  more  than  ten  years  before  my 
visit,  many  of  the  tribes  of  the  interior  ate  the  women 
captured  from  hostile  tribes.  I  have  already  remarked, 
that  the  unfortunate  Kanaka  Popinee  has  not  only  to 
do  all  the  cooking  and  household  work,  but  to  satisfy 
the  sexual  needs  of  her  squad  of  husbands — a  term 
which  I  will  hasten  to  explain. 

The  Kanaka  Marriage. — Polyandry.    As  a  matter 
of   fact,    marriage    does   not   exist   in  New  Caledonia. 

218 


UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY.  219 

The  Chief  gives  the  women  to  those  of  his  warriors 
with  whom  he  is  most  satisfied,  and  in  that  consists 
all  the  ceremony  of  marriage.  But,  as  the  number 
of  women  is  much  inferior  to  that  of  the  men,  the 
result  is  that  every  woman  is  the  property  of  several 
husbands.  It  is  this  collection  of  husbands,  having 
one  wife  in  common,  that  I  have  designated  under 
the  name  of  the  "  squad. "  They  live  together  in  a  hut, 
with  their  common  wife.  ^ 

The  Condition  of  the  Popin^e.  Every  day  the 
Popinee  has  to  work  like  a  beast  of  burden,  and  at 
night  she  has  to  satisfy  the  desires  of  aU  the  males. 
How  does  each  of  the  husbands  manage  to  get  his 
share  of  the  conjugal  cake  ?  That  is  a  subject  on  which 
I  could  gather  no  precise  information.  Does  each 
gentleman  have  a  proper  day  for  visiting  Madame, 
like  some  of  the  Parisian  fast  men,  who  keep  a  woman 
between  four,  or  even  eight,  of  them?  Or  do  the 
stronger  and  more  vigorous  husbands  take  the  lion's 
share,  and  only  leave  their  associates  the  scraps  of  the 
feast,  after  they  themselves  are  completely  satisfied? 
I  could  gather  no  trustworthy  information  on  the  point. 
It  is  probable,  however,  that  love,  that  noble  sentiment 
that  sways  the  human  breast,  finds  no  place  in  a 
Kanaka  household.  The  wretched  Popinee  has  to 
permit  the  embraces  of  the  males  whenever  they  are 
"  in  rut. "  Pregnancy  does  not  cause  any  remission  in 
their  attacks,  nor  does  the  period  of  suckling  either, — 
which  by  the  way  extends  over  three  or  four  years. 

*  Herb.  Spencer  in  The  Principles  of  Sociology,  Lond.,  Williams 
and  Norgate,  1885  ;  and  Gh.  Letourneau,  in  L' Evolution  du  Mariage 
et  de  la  Famille,  Paris,  1888,  both  treat  the  subject  of  Polyandry 
in  a  very  full  and  competent  manner,  although  from  standpoints,  of 
course,  rather  different. 


220  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF 

The  Kanaka  "  Break  Wood."  As  might  be  expected, 
the  Kanaka  does  not  show  much  consideration,  or  affec- 
tion, for  his  common  wife, — the  more  so,  perhaps,  because 
she'  is  ugly  enough  to  frighten  a  man.  Sexual  connec- 
tion is  performed  without  any  preliminary  preparation. 
After  a  hard  day's  work  it  often  happens  to  the  unfor- 
tunate Popinee,  that  she  is  obliged  to  support  the  amorous 
assaults  of  her  squad  of  husbands  all  night. 

Accouchement  takes  place  without  any  sort  of 
ceremony.  The  female  neighbours  help  the  women  in 
labour  as  they  best  can.  After  a  day  or  two's  rest, 
she  goes  to  work  again.  As  to  the  labour  of  love,  the 
genital  organs  are  hardly  given  time  to  recover  from 
the  disorders  caused  by  the  accouchement.  There  is 
always  one  husband,  more  impatient  than  the  others, 
who  cannot  wait,  and  very  often,  though  at  the  risk  of 
crippling  his  wife,  he  recommences  copulation  with  her. 
Owing  to  this  little  amusement,  the  woman  is  worn 
out,  and  rarely  brings  forth  more  than  two  children, 
and  although  married  at  twenty,  or  twenty-five  at  the 
latest,  she  is  soon  used  up ;  at  thirty,  she  is  a  wretched 
decrepit  creature  horrible  to  behold. 

An  Original  Form  of  Punishment  for  Adultery. 

It  might  be  imagined  that  with  the  incessant  amount 
of  prostitution— as  it  may  be  called  —that  the  Popinee 
undergoes  almost  every  night,  that  she  had  quite 
enough  of  copulation,  and  never  committed  the  sin  of 
adultery.  That,  however,  would  be  to  fail  to  take 
into  account  the  fancies  and  failings  of  a  woman's 
brain.  Adultery  exists,  and  is  punished  in  an  original 
manner,  which  is  not,  I  believe,  practised  anywhere 
else  in  the  world. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  221 

When  a  woman  is  convicted  of  adultery,  the  Chief 
condemns  her  to  die  in  the  manner  in  which  she  has 
committed  her  offence.  I  will  explain  what  I  mean. 
The  woman  is  fastened  down  in  a  hut  in  such  a 
manner  that  she  cannot  move.  Her  hands  are  tied 
behind  her  back,  her  legs  are  bent  to  the  thighs  and 
fastened  to  them  by  means  of  a  rope  which  passes 
round  the  thigh  and  the  shin,  and  is  then  fastened  to 
that  which  secures  the  arms  and  the  hands ;  the  woman 
is  thrown  on  her  back  with  her  thighs  open,  and  the 
opening  of  the  vulva  widely  gaping.  The  description 
may  not  be  very  clear ;  it  would  need  a  photograph 
to  show  the  position  plainly.  But  I  do  not  know  of 
any  photographer  who  has  ever  been  able  to  take 
such  a  picture,  for  what  I  am  relating  was  told  me 
in  confidence  by  Kake,  the  Chief  of  the  Kanalas. 
When  she  is  powerless  to  move,  the  woman  is  given 
over  to  the  young  warriors  of  the  tribe,  each  of  whom 
enters  the  hut  in  his  turn.  The  men  dance  the  pilou- 
pilou  whilst  awaiting  their  turn.  The  operation,  or 
rather  the  execution,  continues  without  cessation  until 
the  victim  dies, — as  may  be  imagined — in  horrible 
sufferings.  According  to  Kake,  it  takes  about  a  hundred 
of  these  assaults  to  kill  the  woman.  ^ 

Not  Confined  to  the  Kanakas.  The  ingenuity  of 
man  has  found  out  "many  curious  inventions",  but 
surely  nothing  more  revolting  than  this  barbarous 
practice.     Unfortunately  this  custom  is  not  confined  to 

'  De  Rochas,  in  his  book,  Nouvelle  Cale'dotiie  (page  262),  confirms 
my  account.  L.  Moncelon,  R6ponse  au  Questionnaire  de  Sociologie, 
in  Bull.  Soc.  d'Anthrpp.,  1886,  states  that  he  has  seen  a  man  sen- 
tenced to  death  for  having  looked  at  the  wife  of  a  chief  when  she 
stooped  down  to  pick  up  some  shells;  crime  of  lise-majeUe. 


222  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF 

Melanesia  alone.  It  is  to  be  found  in  all  countries  and 
in  all  times.  The  adulterous  man,  it  should  be  noticed, 
is  never  punished  for  having  forsworn  his  conjugal 
vows,  but  wholly  and  solely  for  having  injured  another 
husband.  I  have  no  space  here  to  go  into  the  laws 
of  adultery  prevalent  among  various  nations  and  tribes. 
The  philosophy  relating  to  this  has  been  clearly  sketched 
out  by  able  teachers  like  Letoumeau  and  other  pro- 
fessional experts.  Still  I  would  call  attention  to  the 
fact  that  this  savage  doctrine  of  lex  talionis  is  carried 
out  with  the  same  brutal  and  lascivious  ferocity  amongst 
the  Omahas.  These  people  tie  the  wretched  female 
to  a  stake  in  the  prairie,  and  abandon  her  to  the  ob- 
scene embraces  of  twenty  or  thirty  men.  Bancroft  ^ 
affirms  that  the  Modocs  of  California  publicly  slit  open 
the  guilty  woman's  belly;  while  the  Hoopsa,  another 
tribe  of  Red  Skins,  tore  out  one  of  the  adulterer's  eyes 
or,  were  he  married,  took  away  his  wife.  If,  quitting 
modern  times  and  savage  countries,  we  travel  back  to 
classical  antiquity,  we  find  that  hardly  any  better  state 
of  things  existed  in  the  more  polished  lands  of  Greece 
and  Rome.  Here  marriage  was  crudely  considered  as 
nothing  more  than  a  civic  duty  and  thought  of  only 
from  the  standpoint  of  population.  Strange  as  it  may 
sound  to  us,  Lycurgus  and  Solon  encouraged  the  im- 
potent husband  to  favour  the  adultery  of  his  young 
wife.  "It  was  not  reproachable,"  says  Plutarch,  speak- 
ing of  the  laws  of  Lycurgus,  "  for  a  man  already  fairly 
stricken  in  years  and  who  owned  a  young  spouse,  to 
allow  a  fine  young  man  who  had  the  talent  to  please 
him  and  was  of  kindly  nature  to  take  his  place  in  the 
conjugal  bed  with  his  wife,  ' pour  la  /aire  emplir  de 
bonne  sentence,^  and  afterwards  recognise  the  fruit  which 

'  Native  Races,   I   vol.,  p.  350. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  223 

was  born  of  the  relations,  as  though  it  had  been  en- 
gendered by  himself.  Therefore,  was  it  allowable  in 
an  honest  man  who  loved  the  wife  of  another  through 
seeing  that  she  was  virtuous,  modest  and  bore  fine 
offspring,  to  beg  her  husband  to  permit  him  to  have 
connection  with  her  so  as  to  sow  there,  as  in  rich  and 
fertile  earth,  beautiful  and  good  children,  which  by  this 
means  should  come  to  have  a  community  of  blood  and 
relationship  with  people  of  wealth  and  honour. "  ^  This, 
of  course,  is  marriage  considered  without  the  least  pre- 
judice, and  from  the  strict  point  of  view  of  social  utility, 
and  I  doubt  much  that  the  world  has  yet  attained  to 
so  philosophical  and,  as  it  seems  to  me,  elastic  an 
interpretation  of  the  wedded  state  as  to  sanction  this 
practice  to-day,  except,  perhaps,  as  a  private  arrange- 
ment. 

"  Solon,"  says  Letourneau,  "imitated  Lycurgus  on  this 
point  with  the  following  restriction,  recalling  the  code 
of  Manou,  that  the  wife  of  an  impotent  husband  ought, 
with  the  authorisation  of  course  of  her  conjoint,  to  select 
a  lover  from  among  the  nearest  relatives  of  the  said 
husband."  ^  Manners  went  sometimes  beyond  the  laws, 
and  Plutarch  mentions  that  Cimon  of  Athens,  example 
of  soul-greatness  and  of  goodness,  lent  his  wife  to  the 
rich  Callias.  ^  But  that  did  not  at  all  prevent  the  laws 
of  Solon  from  authorising  the  husband  to  kill  the 
adulterer  whom  he  might  catch  in  flagrante  delicto. 
Further  still,  the  law  struck  with  civil  degradation  the 
too  indulgent  husband  and  authorised  family  tribunals 
to  sentence  to  death  the  guilty  woman,  whom  the 
outraged  husband  himself  executed,  before  witnesses.  * 
Finally,    a   law    of  Draco,    which  was  never  repealed, 

•Plutarch,  Lycurgus,  XXIX.  'Plutarch,   Solon,  XXXVI. 

•  Plutarch,  Life  of  Cimon.    *  Legouv^,  Hist,  morale  desfemmes  (p.  182). 


224  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

handed  over  the  adulterous  lover  to  the  tender  mer- 
cies of  the  husband.  ^  In  sum,  save  for  the  care  of 
the  good  of  the  State,  before  which  all  gave  way,  this 
Grecian  legislation  did  no  more  than  consecrate  the 
old  primitive  right,  which  made  the  woman  the  hus- 
band's chattel. 

Rome's  Code  of  Adultery.  Rome  followed  strangely 
hard  on  Greece  in  all  that  concerned  the  marriage  bond. " 
For  the  wife,  her  manners  and  legislation  were  at  first 
of  savage  atrocity.  The  term  "  adulterer "  was  at  the 
outset  applied  only  to  the  wife,  and  the  law  of  the  Twelve 
Tables  conferred  the  right  to  drag  up  the  guilty  woman 
before  a  domestic  tribunal ;  she  was  condemned,  and 
executed  by  the  relatives  themselves:  Cognati  necanto 
uti  voleiit  (Let  the  kinsmen  kill  her  as  they  shall 
please).  These  family  tribunals  lasted  all  through  the 
Republican  regime,  and  even  later,  concurrently  with 
the  Lfx  Jtilia;  but  manners  became  less  harsh,  and  death 
as  a  penalty  of  adultery  was  replaced  with  banishment 
of  at  least  200  miles  from  Rome  and  the  obligation  to 
wear  the  courtesan's  toga.  Of  course,  if  the  husband 
surprised  the  adulterous  wife  in  the  very  act  he  still 
possessed  authority  to  kill  her  on  the  spot;  ^  and  the 
lover  he  could  keep  to  torture  or  mutilate,  as  the 
warmth  of  his  lost  love,  or  the  cold-blooded  calculation 
of  revenge,  might  dictate.  The  character  of  the  mu- 
tilation was  of  the  savagest  kind.  A  picturesque  word 
for  it  exists  in  French,  raffaniscr,  and  its  meaning 
may  be  better  imagined  than  explained.  The  outraged 
husband    could    also   deliver   the   hapless   lover   to  the 

'  M6nard,    Morale  avant  les  philosopher,  p.   303. 

•  Lecky,  History  of  European  Morals,  vol.   tl,  p.   312. 

■  Wake,   Evolution  of  Morality,  vol.  II,  p.   85. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  225 

ferocious  lubricity  of  his  slaves.  One  would  think  in 
these  days  that  it  were  enough  to  render  the  poor 
wretch  an  eunuch  and  expose  him  to  unnatural  passive 
treatment.  But  law  and  opinion  further  authorised  the 
husband  to  demand  a  sum  of  money  for  the  ransom 
of  his  wife's  lover  and  this  consequently  opened  the 
door  for  torture  as  a  means  of  blackmailing. 

It  was  reserved  for  the  philosophical  Emperor,  An- 
toninus, more  clement  and  equitiible'  than  his  fore- 
runners, to  amend  this  terrible  state  of  things.  He 
forbade  by  law  the  husband,  himself  presumed  guilty 
of  adultery,  to  kill  or  judicially  prosecute  his  wife 
surprised  in  her  lover's  arms.  In  time,  the  reaction 
that  was  to  be  expected  took  place,  and  manners 
aifecting  the  conjugal  couch  became  daily  more  licenti- 
ous. Tolerance  gave  birth  to  license,  and  Septimus 
Severus  laid  down  new  laws  against  breaches  of  the 
marriage  vow.  That  such  laws  were  needed  and  ap 
predated  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  Dion  Cassius  found 
on  the  public  registers  at  Rome  three  thousand  cases 
of  adultery.  *  Socrates,  the  ecclesiastical  historian, 
informs  us  that  Theodosius  not  only  softened  the 
penalties  waiting  upon  adultery,  but  did  very  much 
more.  He  swept  away  the  old  Roman  custom,  born 
of  cruelty  and  lubricity,  which  sanctioned  the  locking 
up  of  the  guilty  woman  in  a  sniidl  lodgment  where 
she  was  delivered  to  the  sensuality  of  all-comers,  the 
latter  even  being  obliged  to  carry  small  bells  to 
attract  attention.  ^  The  same  ignoble  practice,  I  have 
pointed  out  already,  was  in  vogue  amongst  certain 
red-skinned  tribes  of  North  America,  and  if  the  com- 
munity of  the  custom  does  not  prove  that  the  Romans 

'  Friedlander,   Maeurs  romaincs,  etc.,   vol.   I,   p.    367. 
*  Socrates,  Hist.  Eccles.  lib.  V.,  cap.   XV'IH. 


226  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS    OF 

were  less  civilised  than  the  Red  Skins,  it  at  any  rate 
demonstrates,  combined  with  other  facts,  "  the  original 
equality  of  the  most  diverse  races  in  the  state  of 
primitive  savagery."  '  In  the  name  of  Religion  many 
crimes  have  been  wrought,  and  the  pious  Constantine, 
to  whom  the  imperial  purple  next  fell,  once  more  showed 
that  the  newest  converts  are  the  worst  fanatics.  This 
Christian  neophyte,  with  a  fury  that  knew  no  bounds, 
waged  pitiless  war  against  all  infractions  of  the  public 
peace.  On  the  assumption  that  cruelty  was  the  only 
cure  for  viciousness,  he  launched  forth  a  law  making 
adultery  in  both  sexes  punishable  with  death. 

"Justinian  reacted  against  this  and  moderated  the 
rigours  of  the  law.  His  code  condemns  the  adulteress 
to  be  whipped,  to  have  her  hair  shaved  off  and  to  be 
shut  up  in  a  convent  for  the  rest  of  her  days,  unless 
her  husband  should  take  her  back  again  before  the 
expiration  of  two  years.  Compared  with  the  excessive 
zeal  of  Constantine,  this  appears  almost  merciful. — It 
is  also  too  well-known  how  previously,  under  the  much 
wiser  pagan  emperors,  the  Roman  morals  had  become 
so  relaxed;  an  almost  free  marriage  procured  to  the 
young  women  of  the  aristocracy  an  almost  unlimited 
independence,  or,  at  all  events  and  despite  the  laws, 
adultery  had  ceased  to  be  an  abominable  crime,  as  it 
had  begnn  to  be  considered  among  the  ancestors.  **  ^ 

In  the  realistic  stories  of  Algerian  experience  written 
by  my  old  friend  and  brother  officer,  Hector  France 
(ex-Captain  of  the  "  Chasseurs  d'Aftique "),  there  is  a 
powerful  narrative  of  an  old  man's  revenge  on  his 
young  wife's  lover,  whom  he  had  succeeded  in  trapping. 
I  shall  give  no  account  of  this  here,  although  Hector 

*  Letourneau,  L' Evolution  du  Mariage  et  de  la  Famille  i^dn'is,  1888), 
page  279. 


ANTHROPOLOGV.  227 

France  assures  me  it  is  tlioroughly  true  in  fact,  as  I 
understand  that  the  editor  of  the  present  work  intends 
bringing  out  an  EngHsh  version  of  these  extraordinary 
stories,  which  have  already  been  done  into  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  tongue  by  a  master-hand, 

A  Kanaka ' '  Joseph  and  Potiphar's  Wife. ' '  Branda 
relates,  in  a  very  graphic  manner,  the  story  of  a  Kanaka 
"Potiphar's  wife". 

"  The  son  of  the  terrible  Bouarate  came  to  complain 
to  the  commander  of  the  district  of  the  rape  of  one 
of  his  wives  by  six  of  his  subjects.  What  a  sign  of 
the  times!  respect  for  sovereigns  is  on  the  wane,  even 
in  New  Caledonia.  Who  had  dared  to  molest  the  wife 
of  the  noble  lord,  Bouarate?  In  former  times  the 
noble  lord,  instead  of  coming  whining  to  the  French 
authorities,  would  have  knocked  the  delinquent  on  the 
head  with  his  war  club,  and  afterwards  eaten  him;  — 
perhaps  also  eaten  his  faithless  spouse  into  the  bargain. 
Philip,  however,  was  more  good-natured,  and  after 
having  extorted  as  large  a  fine  as  he  could  from  the 
guilty  parties,  had  requested  that  they  might  also  have 
a  week's  hard  labour  in  the  prison.  But  the  result 
of  the  inquiry  showed,  that,  if  there  had  been  any 
rape,  it  was  that  of  the  six  striplings,  who  had  been 
seduced  by  this  Messalina  of  Hienghen.  ^      I  was  present 

*  "  So  far  as  we  can  ascertain  rape  by  females  on  males  is  a  crime 
unknown  to  the  English  law.  Several  cases  of  this  kind  have,  however, 
come  before  the  French  criminal  courts.  In  1845,  a  female,  aged  eigh- 
teen, was  charged  with  having  been  guilty  of  an  act  of  indecency,  with 
violence,  on  the  person  of  a  boy  under  the  age  of  fifteen  years.  She 
was  found  guilty.  In  another  case,  which  occurred  in  1842,  a  girl,  aged 
eighteen,  was  charged  with  rape  on  two  children, — tlie  one  eleven 
and  the  other  thirteen  years  of  age.  It  appeared  in  evidence  that  the 
accused  had  enticed  the  two  boys  into  a  field,  and  had  there  had  forcible 


228  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

at  the  examination  of  one  of  the  accused,  a  handsome 
young  man  of  sixteen  or  seventeen  years,  with  a  soft 
skin,  of  a  relatively  light  colour,  a  modest  face,  and 
mild,  soft  eyes.  This  youthful  Apollo  energetically 
denied  that  he  had  been  guilty  of  showing  such 
disrespect  to  his  chief;  the  lady  had  been  the  real 
culprit,  and  he  had  only  been  the  passive  instrument. 
Whenever  he  met  Mrs.  Philip  she  shot  terribly 
amorous  glances  at  him,  asked  him  for  a  light  for 
her  pipe,  put  her  hand  on  his  shoulder,  caressed  him, 
etc.,  etc.  He  refused  to  understand.  Whereupon  she 
explained  herself  more  categorically,  and  invited  the 
handsome  lad  to  come  with  her  into  the  brush,  and 
'break  wood.' 

"The  Caledonian  Joseph  answered  Mrs,  Potiphar  w^ith 
a  formal  refusal.  Unfortunately,  one  day,  the  lady 
(still  under  the  pretext  of  wanting  a  light  for  her  pipe) 
seized  Joseph  by  the  hem  of  his  garment — I  mean  that 

connection  with  them.  This  female  was  proved  to  have  had  an  unna- 
tural contraction  of  the  vagina,  which  prevented  intercourse  with  adult 
males.  She  was  found  to  be  labouring  under  syphilitic  disease,  and 
the  proof  of  her  offence  was  completed  by  the  disease  having  been 
communicated  to  the  two  boys.  She  was  convicted.  *  Casper  describes 
cases  of  this  description  which  have  fallen  under  his  observation,  j  By 
the  Penal  Code  of  France,  it  is  a  crime  in  either  se.x.  to  attempt  inter- 
course with  the  other,  whether  with  or  without  violence,  when  the  child 
is  under  eleven  years  of  age.  That  this  offence  is  perpetrated  in  England 
cannot  be  doubted.  It  is  by  no  means  unusual  to  find,  in  the  wards 
of  hospitals,  mere  boys  affected  with  venereal  disease.  In  some  instances 
this  may  be  due  to  precocious  puberty;  but  in  others  it  can  only  be 
ascribed  to  that  unnatural  connection  of  adult  women  with  male  children 
with  is  punished  as  a  crime  in  the  other  sex.  The  only  accessible 
medical  proof  would  consist  in  the  transmission  of  gonorrhoea  or  syphilis 
from  the  woman  to  the  child."     (Taylor's  Medical  Jurisp.). 

*  "Ann.  d'Hyg."  (1847,  I,  p.   463). 

t  "Gerichtl.  Med."  (vol.  2,  p.  129),  and  "  Klin.  Novellen"  (1863,  p.  15). 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  229 

Caledonian  garment  for  which,  on  wet  days,  a  rolled-up 
leaf,  kept  in  its  place  by  the  stalk  of  some  plant,  can 
be  advantageously  substituted.  This  kind  of  garment 
is  called  in  the  country,  moineau.  It  is  the  height  of 
fashion  to  wear  it  very  large.  The  unlucky  young 
man  thus  seized  by  the  hem  of  his  garment,  did  not 
dare  to  fly  in  a  state  of  shameful  nudity.  The  young 
woman  led  him  into  the  wood, — and  then  she  took 
the  garment  off  herself." 

Lust   of  the  Kanaka  for  the  White  Woman. 

The  European  woman,  however  modest  may  be  her 
costume,  and  however  moderate  her  degree  of  beauty 
seems  a  goddess  descended  from  Olympus,  compared 
to  the  horrible  Popinee,  the  mere  caricature  of  a  woman. 
It  may  be  imagined,  a  priori,  that  the  Kanaka  has 
few  opportunities  of  gratifying  his  amorous  taste,  though 
he  is  very  desirous  to  "  break  wood "  with  a  White 
woman.  In  former  days,  he  would  have  eaten  her  with 
great  gusto,  at  a  pilou-pilou,  but  now  he  is  more 
modest,  and  would  content  himself  with  her  favours. 
Unluckily  for  him,  the  wives  and  daughters  of  the 
colonists,  who  are  generally  of  English  birth,  on  the 
mother's  side  at  least,  their  mothers  having  usually 
come  from  Australia,  are  of  pure  manners,  and,  with 
very  rare  exceptions,  the  Kanaka  is  considered  by  the 
White  woman  as  a  biped  unworthy  of  her  attention. 
However,  I  learned  from  an  old  colonist  who  had  lived 
at  la  Poya  for  many  years,  and  who  escaped  being 
murdered  in  the  rebelHon,  that  he  had  several  times 
tried  to  bring  up  young  Kanakas  he  had  bought  from 
the  chief  of  the  P'arinos,  but  that  these  boys,  as  soon 
as  they  attained  puberty,  were  a  great  bother,  and 
were  always  hanging  round  the  petticoats  of  the  women 


230  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF 

and  girls.  On  this  account  he  was  obliged  to  get  rid 
of  them  and  take  in  their  place  men  he  had  hired  from 
the  New  Hebrides,  and  this  afterwards  saved  the  lives 
of  himself  and  family.  He  armed  his  New  Hebrideans 
with  four  or  five  old  muskets  he  had  on  his  farm,  and 
the  Kanakas,  seeing  that'  he  was  prepared,  did  not 
dare  to  attack  him. 

The  Great  Chief,  Atai,  and  Madame  F***  Com- 
mandant Riviere  gives  some  curious  details  concerning 
the  passion  of  Atai,  the  principal  leader  of  the  revolt, 
for  Mme  F***  the  widow  of  an  artillery  captain,  and 
proprietress  of  a  farm. 

"  Mme  F***  was  much  admired  by  Atai,  the  chief 
promoter  of  the  rebellion.  He  was  a  neighbour  of  hers, 
and  often  came  to  see  her.  He  brought  her  fruit,  and 
she  offered  him  coffee,  bread,  and  wine.  He  used  to 
smoke  his  pipe  under  the  verandah,  whilst  she  worked, 
and  talked  to  him.  On  gala  days,  when  he  was  full 
dressed,  he  wore  the  tunic  of  an  infantry  officer,  with 
gold  stripes,  and  a  kepi,  like  most  of  the  other  Chiefs, 
but  most  usually  he  was  naked.  But  in  a  copper  skin, 
nudity  does  not  seem  to  shock  women,  perhaps  because 
they  are  so  used  to  seeing  it. 

"  Atai  was  tall,  of  a  remarkably  strong  build,  and 
very  intelligent,  but  he  was  forty-five  years  old,  which 
is  not  young  for  a  Kanaka,  his  head  was  large,  the 
top  of  his  skull  bald,  and  his  ears  hanging,  and  pierced 
with  large  holes,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  country. 
He  was  much  struck  by  Mme  F***,  and  one  day, 
unexpectedly,  but  very  quietly,  asked  her  to  marry 
him.  She  was  greatly  astonished,  and  refused.  Atai 
renewed  his  proposal  on  several  other  occasions,  but 
always  met  with  the  same  answer.     His  vexation  had, 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  231 

perhaps,  something  to  do  with  the  insurrection  ;  there 
is  generally  a  woman  at  the  bottom  of  everything. 
I  have  many  times  told  Mme  F***  that  she  ought  to 
have  sacrificed  herself,  and  she  would  have  prevented 
the  insurrection.  She  did  not  contradict  me,  but  replied, 
that  not  even  to  save  the  colony  from  the  greatest 
possible  dangers,  would  she  have  contracted  such  a 
marriage." 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Perversions  of  the  sexual  passions  amongst  the  Kanakas.  —  The 
perversions  of  the  Popine'es. — Pederasty  after  the  age  of  puberty. — 
A  curious  theory  of  sexual  aberration. —  The  symptomatic 
characteristics  of  the  pederasty  of  the  Kanaka.  —  Cruelties  and  erotic 
mutilations  committed  by  the  Kanakas  during  the  insurrection. — 
White  women  beheaded  and  violated. — Bechir,  the  Arab. — Louis, 
the  Kanaka  interpreter. — Acts  of  Sadism. — The  mutilation  and 
outraging  of  corpses. 

The  Perversions  of  the  Popin^es.  The  unhappy 
Popinee  is  not  perverted,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the 
word;  she  permits  the  caresses  of  the  man,  but  she 
knows  nothing  at  all  about  the  "  spices  of  Venus. " 
She  is  completely  ignorant  of  the  art  of  performing 
in  a  kneeling  posture, — an  art  in  which  the  Congai 
is  so  expert.  Nor  is  she  a  sodomite.  There  are 
exceptions  to  every  rule,  it  is  true,  but  I  found  very 
few  exceptions  to  this.  I  cannot  say,  whether  the 
woman  of  New  Caledonia  has  the  same  aversion  for 
"  the  worship  of  Venus  the  wrong  way, "  as  the  Negress 
of  Senegal  has,  the  number  of  Popinees  I  was  able 
to  question  (and  that  with  the  greatest  possible  difficulty), 
being  insufficient  to  enable  me  to  deduce  a  general 
rule,    from    such   observations  as  I  was  able  to  make. 

Pederasty  after  the  Age  of  Puberty.  The  Kanaka 
attains  puberty  at  the  age  of  thirteen  or  fourteen.  He 
cannot  become  a  warrior  till  he  is  of  a  certain  age, — 
usually   about   the   twentieth  year, — and  he  must  first 

232 


UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY.  233 

"prove  himself  to  be  a  man,"  by  undergoing  certain 
trials.  The  Chief  then  gives  him  his  share  of  a 
Popinee,  Until  that  time,  woman  is  forbidden  fruit 
for  him.  The  girls,  as  has  been  seen,  belong  to  the 
Chief,  and  the  vengeance  of  the  Chief  is  a  terrible 
thing  to  incur.  However,  now  and  then,  a  lad  manages 
to  find  some  young  girl. 

As  to  the  woman  who  is  the  property  of  a  squad 
of  husbands,  it  is  not  advisable  to  have  anything  to 
do  with  her,  for  there  is  the  danger  of  getting  a  crack 
on  the  head  from  a  war  club,  and,  moreover,  a  woman 
who  is  watched  by  such  a  lot  of  husbands  is  not  easily 
got  at.  But  the  powers  of  generation  have  imperative 
rights  at  the  age  of  from  fifteen  to  twenty,  and  so 
the  young  Kanakas,  who  are  brought  up  and  taught 
together,  follow  the  example  of  the  Greeks  of  the 
sacred  battalion  of  Thebes,  and  in  default  of  women, 
"  console "  each  other.  Wherever  human  beings  of 
one  sex  are  collected  together,  the  same  result  will 
follow,  if  moral  sense  is  wanting,  and  the  moral  sense 
of  the  Kanaka  is  not  that  of  the  civilised  man. 

But,  it  must  be  confessed,  to  the  disgrace  of  our 
civilisation,  that  in  spite  of  the  most  attentive  watch- 
fulness, pederasty  finds  a  secret  asylum  in  our  great 
educational  establishments.  If  the  past  career  of  the 
poor  wretches,  whom  pederasty  has  brought  into  the 
criminals'  dock,  were  inquired  into,  it  would  probably 
be  found  that  there  was  a  vicious  and  depraved 
childhood.  I  know,  for  my  own  part,  that  several  of 
my  college  friends  were  addicted  to  this  vice.  I  have 
purposely  abstained  from  speaking  of  one  of  them,  an 
officer  in  the  Navy,  who  left  behind  him  in  Cochin- 
China  a  deplorable  reputation,  on  account  of  his  hardly 
concealed    weakness  for   boys.     I  should  mention  that 


234  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS  OF 

he  already  had  this  vice  when  he  was  a  pupil  at  the 
College  of  T***,  and  virility  did  but  increase  the  sins 
of  his  youth. 

Sexual  Aberration  in  Antiquity.  We  make  a 
pause  here  to  quote  the  peculiar  theory  of  Mantegazza 
and  to  show  how  wide-spread  was  this  vice  long 
before  the  modern  European  nations  existed. 

"  Love  between  males  is  one  of  the  most  horrible 
facts  of  human  psychology;  in  all  ages  and  in  every 
country  it  has  been  a  far  more  common  vice  than  is 
supposed.  Let  us  first  examine  the  facts,  it  will  then 
be  time  to  comment  on  them. 

"  Carthage  was  famous  for  its  vices  contrary  to 
nature,  and  the  Carthaginians  gloried  in  them.  Sal- 
vianus,  a  preacher  of  that  period,  said : 

"'ei  illi  se  mart's  virilis  fortitudinis  esse  crederent,  qui  maxtme 
vir  OS  fceminei  usus  prohrositate  fregissentJ 

(and  they  would  think  themselves  to  be  of  the  greater 
manliness  and  vigour,  in  proportion  as  they  had  to  the 
greatest  extent  broken  men  in  with  the  abomination 
of  using  them  as  women). 

"  Mythological  tradition  traces  pederasty  back  to 
Orpheus  and  the  Thracians. 

" '  IIU  etiam    Thracum  popults  fuisse  auctor  amorent 
In   teneros  transferre  mares,  citraque  j'uventam. 
Breve  ver  atatis  et  pritnos  carpere  flores.^     OviD. 

(He  too  is  related  to  have  been  the  first  who  taught 
the  peoples  of  Thrace  to  transfer  their  love  to  males 
of  tender  age,  and  before  maturity  to  enjoy  the  brief 
spring-tide  of  their  youth  and  pluck  the  blossoms  of  their 
early  bloom). 

"  Aristotle  says  that  this  vice  was  authorised  by  law 
in  the  island  of  Crete  in  order  to  prevent  an  excessive 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  235 

increase  of  the  population.  Athenseus  also  speaks  of 
the  sodomy  of  the  Cretans,  but  attributes  it  also  to 
the  Chalcidians  of  Euboea.  Licofronius  accuses  Achilles 
of  having  massacred  on  the  altar  of  Apollo  the  youth 
Troilus,  who  had  refused  to  submit  himself  to  his 
shameful  desires.)  Sodomy  was  certainly  a  Greek  vice, 
for  did  they  not  introduce  it  even  into  Olympus  in 
uniting  Jupiter  and  Ganymede,  Apollo  and  Hyacinthus, 
Hercules  and  Hylas.  Sophocles  and  j^schylus  dared 
to  mention  it  in  their  tragedies,  and  Anacreon  sang 
Bathyllus.  The  divine  Socrates  himself  loved  youths. 
"  Rome  is  not  unworthy  of  her  great  mistress  in  this 
respect.  Caesar  sells  the  first  fruits  of  his  youth  to 
Nicomedes,  King  of  Bithynia.  Horace  extols  the 
charms  of  his  male  lovers,  Ligurinus,  Gyges,  Lyciscus, 
etc.  Virgil  gives  immortality,  under  the  name  of 
Alexis  to  his  love  for  the  youthful  Alexander.  The 
Roman  people  calls  to  mind  Augustus  when  that 
famous  verse  is  recited  on  the  stage : 

"'  Videsne  ut   Cinccdus  orbem   digito  tempereif 

(See  you  how  a  Cinsedus  directs  the  world  with 
his  finger?) 

"  A  Roman  emperor  has  statues  and  temples  raised 
in  honour  of  his  minion,  and  the  immortal  historian 
of  Tiberius  writes: 

'^'■Infantes,  necdum  tanien  lade  depulsos,  inguini  ceti  papilla  adtno- 
vebat:  pronior  tunc  ad  id  genus  libidinis  et  natura  et  (Etate? 

(Young  children,  not  yet  weaned,  he  would  put  to  his 
TrpiipxTit;  as  to  their  mother's  teat, — being  in  fact  better 
adapted  to  this  form  of  indulgence  both  by  constitution 
and  age). 

"  And  at  another  place : 

"  '■fertur  etiam  in  sacrificando  quondam  captus  facie  ministri,  iie- 
quisse    abstinere  quia  pene  vix  dutn  re  divina  peracta,  ibidem  statim 


236  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

seductum  covstuprtjiret,  simulque  fratrem  ejus  tibicinem ,  atque  utique 
mox,  quod  mutuo  flagitium  exprohabant,  crura  fregisse* 

(He  is  said,  moreover,  on  one  occasion  when  engaged 
in  sacrifice,  to  have  been  captivated  by  the  looks  of 
a  temple  ministrant,  and  to  have  been  unable  to  refrain 
from  almost  instantly,  the  service  barely  completed, 
taking  him  aside  on  the  spot  and  polluting  him,  and 
along  with  him  his  brother,  a  flute-player;  then  pre- 
sently because  they  were  two  living  proofs  of  his 
infamy,  to  have  had  their  legs  broken) 

"  If  now  we  turn  from  the  Greco-Latin  antiquity  to 
the  ancient  Gauls,  then  to  America  or  to  contempo- 
rary savage  tiibes,  we  find  sodomy  not  less  prevalent. 

"  According  to  Diodorus  of  Sicily,  the  Gauls  gave 
themselves  up  to  orgies  of  debauchery  and  sodomy. 
In  some  parts  of  the  North  of  Mexico,  men  dressed  as 
women  and  who  were  forbidden  to  carry  arms  were 
espoused  as  wives.  According  to  Gomara  there  were 
at  Tamulipas  houses  of  prostitution  the  inmates  of  which 
were  men.  ^  Diaz  relates  that,  on  the  coasts  of  Mexico, 
pederasty  was  a  common  vice,  although  it  was  consid- 
ered as  a  crime  and  severely  punished.  Duflot  found 
these  vices  contrary  to  nature  very  common  in  Cali- 
fornia.    Pederasty  was  general  in  Nicaragua.    The  first 


*  For  further  details  on  ancient  pederasty  and  collateral  vices  the 
student  is  referred  to  Geschichte  der  Lustseuche  tm  Alterthutne  by 
Dr.  Julius  Rosenbaum,  an  English  translation  of  which,  with  literal 
rendering  of  the  Latin  and  Greek  passages,  has  been  carefully  done  by 
Alfred  R.  Allinson,  Esq.  M.A.  (Oxon)  and  will  be  published  by  the  editor 
of  the  present  work.  The  curious  reader  may  also  consult  Dr.  Virey, 
De  la  Femme,  Paris,  1827,  from  which  Mantegazza  has  borrowed  the 
majority  of  his  Latin  references  given  in  the  text;  and  also  Forberg's 
Matiual  of  Classical  Erotology,  Paris,  Liseux,    1882. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  237 

explorers  found  it  implanted  among  the  aborigines  of 
Panama,  although  disapproved  of  by  them.  It  was  the 
same  in  ancient  Peru,  on  the  coast  of  Guayaquil. 

"  Many  travellers  have  also  met  with  it  among  the 
natives  of  North  America.  There  men  could  be  seen, 
dressed  as  women,  and  occupied  in  household  work. 
From  Alaoka  to  Darien  are  to  be  seen  youths  brought 
up  and  dressed  like  women,  and  who  live  in  concu- 
binage with  the  chiefs  and  great  personages.  The 
Aleoutians,  the  Codiaks  and  the  inhabitants  of  Nutka 
had  also  this  shameful  custom.  The  ancient  travellers 
often  mention  the  existence  of  these  horrible  vices 
among  the  Caribs  of  the  Continent;  but  at  Cumanea, 
on  the  contrary,  sodomy  was  execrated. 

"It  appears  that  at  Madagascar  vices  contrary  to 
nature"  are  not  wanting,  as  is  proved  by  the  existence 
of  singers  and  dancers  dressed  as  women. 

"  In  the  East,  and  unhappily  in  Europe  also,  neither 
children  nor  women  are  wanting  for  the  satisfaction 
of  this  degrading  pleasure,  and  in  certain  cities  of  Italy 
the  sodomists  have  a  language  by  signs  to  indicate 
that  they  can  conjugate  the  verb  in  the  active  or  in 
the  passive  tense  {cinedi  or  patici).'" 

Prof.  Mantegazza's  Curious  Theory.  "  This  in- 
famous vice  is  not  confined  to  the  lower  classes  of 
our  society;  it  is  to  be  found  also  among  the  richest 
and  most  intelligent.  In  the  narrow  circle  of  my 
acquaintance  I  have  met  with  a  French  man  of  let- 
ters, a  German  poet,  an  Italian  politician,  and  a  Spanish 
lawyer,  all  of  whom  were  addicted  to  it.  Why  is  it  that 
this  disgusting  form  of  licentiousness  is  so  often  to  be 
met  with  ?  I  think  that  I  have  found  the  solution  of  the 
problem. 


238  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

"  Anatomists  are  aware  of  the  close  connection  that 
exists  between  the  nerves  that  are  distributed  to  the 
rectum  and  those  which  go  to  the  genital  organs. 
Perhaps  by  reason  of  some  anomaly,  in  men  given  to 
this  disgusting  aberration  the  net-work  of  nerves  which 
preside  over  the  voluptuous  sensations  go  to  the  rectum, 
and  that  it  is  their  excitation  which  induces  in  the 
patici  the  venereal  orgasm  which,  in  ordinary  cases, 
can  be  procured  only  by  the  sexual  organ.  What  still 
further  pleads  in  favour  of  this  explanation,  is  that 
there  are  to  be  found  female  patici,  women  who,  in 
the  act  of  tribadism,  like  to  have  the  rectum  excited 
by  the  finger,  men  who  can  obtain  erection  only  by 
foreign  objects  being  introduced  into  the  rectum.  And 
I  remember  very  well  the  case  of  a  great  writer  who 
admitted  to  me  that  he  had  not  yet  been  able  to  dis- 
cern whether  he  experienced  more  voluptuous  feeling 
during  coition  or  during  defecation. 

"  It  is  easier  to  explain  the  voluptuous  sensation  in  the 
cinedi  who  experience  a  genuine  orgasm  on  an  ignoble 
track,  preferred  on  account  of  its  narrowness.  That 
explains  also  why,  in  many  countries,  sodomy  is  prac- 
tised on  children  only,  whence  the  name  pederasty, 
and  why  it  is  far  more  frequent  in  warm  countries 
where  the  vagina  becomes  very  large,  and  the  con- 
tinual aspect  of  naked  bodies  and  the  facility  of  ob- 
taining women  blunts  the  pleasure. 

"  However,  it  very  often  happens  that  sodomy  is  not 
of  peripheric  "origin  but  resides  in  the  nervous  centres. 
I  therefore  admit  peripheric  or  anatomical  sodomy  (by 
an  abnormal  distribution  of  the  nerves),  lustful  sodomy 
(fi-om  desire  of  narrowness),  and  psychical  sodomy.  ^ 

'  Krafft-Ebing  thinks  that  the  above  is  "  one  of  the  strangest  expla- 
nations of  congenital  contrary  sexual  feeling"  that  has  been  made.     "  How 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  239 

"The  author  of  the  Voyage  d' Anacharsis  says  that 
the  laws  of  ancient  Greece  protected  the  prostitutes 
in  order  to  combat  pederasty. — Aspasia,  the  mistress 
of  Pericles,  of  Socrates  and  of  Alcibiades,  encouraged 
the  love  between  the  two  latter.  Plato  has  preserved 
us  a  fragment  of  a  dialogue  between  Socrates  and 
Aspasia :  '  Socrates,  I  have  read  in  thy  heart,  it  is 
burning  for  the  son  of  Dynomache  and  of  Clinias. 
Listen,  if  thou  would'st  have  the  handsome  Alcibiades 
respond  to  thy  love ;  be  docile  to  the  counsels  of  my 
tenderness. — O,  intoxicating  words!  exclaimed  Socrates, 
O  ecstasy!  a  cold  sweat  has  gone  through  my  body, 
my  eyes  have  filled  with  tears.  —  Cease  thy  sighs,  she 
interrupted,  full  of  sacred  enthusiasm,  elevate  thy  mind 
to  the  divine  intoxications  of  poetry;  that  enchanting 
art  will  open  to  thee  the  sanctuary  of  his  soul.  The 
sweets  of  poetry  fascinate  the  intellect,  the  ear  is  the 
road  to  the  heart  which  is  the  portal  to  all  the  rest.' — 
In  the  grand  times  of  the  Latin  civilisation,  pederasty 
was  a  tolerated  form  of  prostitution  and  of  slavery. 
Citizens  were  not  to  give  way  to  the  desires  of  a 
libertine,  but  slaves  and  emancipated  slaves  could  and 
were  indeed  obliged  to  do  so.  In  Rome  masculine 
prostitution  was  more  ardent  and  more  general  than 
the  feminine,  and  the  obscene  traces  of  it  are  to  be 
found    in    the   verses  of  Catullus,  of  Martial  and  even 

does  this  author,"  says  he,  "  in  other  ways  so  acute,  explain  the  great 
m.ajority  of  cases,  where  pederasty  is  abhorred  by  those  affected  with 
contrary  sexual  feeling?  Besides,  Nature  never  makes  such  leaps. 
Mantegazza  rests  his  hypothesis  upon  the  statements  of  an  acquaintance, 
a  celebrated  writer,  who  affirmed  to  him  that  he  was  not  sure  that 
he  took  a  greater  pleasure  in  coitus  than  in  defecation !  Allowing  the 
correctness  of  this  experience,  still  it  would  only  prove  that  the  man 
was  sexually  abnormal,  and  that  his  pleasure  in  coitus  was  reduced  to 
a  minimum."     Krafft-Ebiiig,  opus  cit.,  p.   227 — 8. 


240  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS  OF 

of  Virgil.  The  ignoble  Greek  poet  Sotades  gave  his 
name  to  some  poems  which  were  inspired  him  by  the 
loves  of  three  men.  In  ancient  Rome  the  barbers' 
shops  were  often  houses  of  male  prostitution: 

"  '  Quorum  frequente  opera  non  in  tondenda  barba,  pilisque  vellendis 
modo,  sed  vera  et  pygiacis  sacris  cincedice,  ne  nefarie  dtcam,  de  node 
administrandis   utebantur.' 

(Whose  services  were  utilised  frequently  not  only 
for  shaving  the  beard  and  plucking  out  superfluous 
hairs,  but  also  in  serving  by  night  a  la  cinaedus,  not 
to  speak  coarsely,  the  rites  of  posterior  sacrifice). 

(Commentaries  of  Douza  on  Petronius). 

"  Moses  is  perhaps  the  only  legislator  previous  to 
Christ  who  has  cast  anathema  upon  pederasty — At 
Constantinople  under  Constantine  there  were  even  houses 
of  prostitution  where  men  sold  themselves  like  women 
— In  France,  after  the  crusades,  this  vice  became 
general  and  a  poet  of  that  period,  Gauthier  de  Coincy, 
prior  of  the  Abbey  of  Saint  Medardus  at  Soissons, 
depicts  the  life  in  convents  in  far  from  edifying  colours: 

" '  La  grammaire  hie  a  hie  accouple 
Mais  Nature  maldit  le  couple. 
La  mort  perpetuel  engenre 
Cil  qui  aime  masculin  genre  , 
Plus   que  le  feminin  ne  face 
Et  Dieu  de  son  livre  I'efface. 
Nature  rit,  si  com  moi  semble 
Quand  hie  et  hoe  joignent  ensemble. 
Mais  hie  et  hie,  chose  est  perdue, 
Nature  en  est  tost  esperdue  .  .  .' 

"  Philippe  le  ^^el  adopted  energetic  measures  to  pre- 
vent sodomy,  and  the  celebrated  trial  of  the  Knights 
Templars  revealed  horrible  things.  The  following  is 
the  testimony  of  Jean  de  Saint-Just : 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  241 

"^  Deinde  dixit  ei  quod  poterat  carnaliter  commisceri  cum  fratribus 
ordinis  et  pati  quod  ipsi  commiicerentur  cum  eo ;  hoc  tamen  non  fecit 
nee  fuit  reqtiisitus,  nee  sett,  nee  audivit  quod  fratres  ordinis  commi- 
terent  peccatum  prcedietum.' 

(Then  he  told  him  that  he  could  have  intercourse 
carnally  with  the  brethren  of  the  Order,  and  suffer 
them  to  have  intercourse  with  him  ;  this,  however,  he 
did  not  do  nor  was  required  to  do,  nor  does  he  know 
nor  has  ever  heard  that  the  brethren  of  the  Order 
committed  the  aforesaid  sin). 

"  Still  more  explicit  is  the  evidence  given  by  Rodolphe 
de  Taverne: 

"  '  Deinde  dixit  ei  quod,  ex  qtio  voverat  castitatem,  debehat  abstinere 
a  niulieribus,  ne  ordo  infamaretiir ;  verumta>nen  secundum,  dicta 
puncta,  si  habere f  calorem  naturalem, poterat  refriger are,  et  carnaliter 
commisceri  cum  fratribus  ordinis,  et  ipsi  commiscerentur  cian  eo ; 
hoc  tamen  non  fecit,  nee  credit  quod  in  ordine  fieret.^ 

(Then  he  told  him  that  from  the  time  he  had  vowed 
chastity  he  was  bound  to  abstain  from  women,  that 
the  Order  should  not  be  disgraced.  Nevertheless, 
according  to  his  words  and  ordinances,  if  he  felt  the 
natural  heat  of  blood,  he  could  have  intercourse  car- 
nally with  the  brethren  of  the  Order,  and  they  have 
intercourse  with  him ;  however,  he  did  not  do  this,  and 
does  not  believe  that  it  was  done  in  the  Order). 

"  Dufour  attributes  to  the  Italians  who  accompanied 
Marie  de  Medicis  to  France  the  spread  of  sodomy  in 
that  country.  It  is  true  that  in  Italy  at  that  time  the 
punishment  of  sodomy  was  a  fine  of  only  36  livres 
tournois  and  g  ducats,  whereas  in  France  the  penalty 
of  this  crime  was  the  stake  (a  punishment  very  seldom 
applied  it  is  true). — It  is  curious  to  read  the  discussion 
of  confessors  on  the  various  sins  that  can  be  committed 
in    the  way  of  sodomy  by  a  man  with  a  woman  (see 


242  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

Jean  Benedict!,  Somme  des  pich^s  et  rem^des  d'iceux, 
Lyons,  1534).  Sanchez  condemned  sodomy  between 
husband  and  wife  as  a  mortal  sin  : 

"  '  Duabus  mulieribus  apud  synagogam  conquestis  se  fuisse  a  viris 
suis  sodomice  cognitis,  responsiitn  est  ab  Hits  rabbinis :  virum  esse 
uxoris  dominum,  proinde  posse  uti  ejus  utciinque  libuertt,  non 
aliter  quatn  is  qui  pisceno :  ille  enim  tarn  anterioribus  qtiam  posteri- 
oribus  partibus,  ad  arbitrium  vesci  potest.^  ' 

(Two  women  having  made  complaint  before  the 
synagogue  that  they  had  been  known  by  their  husbands 
sodonncally,  it  was  answered  by  those  Rabbis:  that 
the  man  was  master  of  the  woman,  consequently  that 
he  could  use  her  as  he  pleased,  as  does  one  who  uses 
a  vessel:  for  he  can  satisfy  himself  with  the  anterior 
or  the  posterior  parts  at  his  own  will  and  pleasure). 

"  To  return  to  psychical  sodomy,  several  cases  of  which 
form  I  have  had  occasion  to  study.  It  more  particu- 
larly attacks  well  educated,  intelligent  men  who  are 
often  neuropathic  subjects.  A  young  man  of  high 
family  and  very  chaste  came  to  consult  me  because  he 
perceived  that  he  loved  and  desired  persons  of  his  own 
sex,  whereas  he  remained  insensible  to  the  seductions 
of  women.  He  was  seized  with  violent  erotic  spasms 
whenever  he  kissed  a  child.  In  order  to  study  him- 
self, he  went  to  a  house  of  prostitution  and  remained 
insensible  to  all  provocations.  This  unfortunate  young 
man,  who  resisted  with  all  his  might,  assured  me  that 
he  would  commit  suicide  if  he  could  not  come  out 
victor  from  the  strife.  I  do  not  know  whether  he  suc- 
ceeded for  I  have  never  seen  him  since. 

'  See  the  remarks  of  Havelock  Ellis  on  the  teachings,  and  the  interest 
taken  in  sexual  problems  by  the  Catholic  Church,  Preface  to  Sexual 
Invention,  Lond.    1897. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  243 

"  Psychical  sodomy  is  not  a  vice,  but  a  passion.  A 
culpable,  revolting  and  disgusting  passion  as  much  as 
you  please,  but  a  passion.  These  sodomists  told  me 
in  their  confession,  which  I  read  with  tears,  that  they 
adored  their  lovers  with  real  jealousy.  They  gave  them 
tokens  of  love,  wrote  tender,  chaste  and  poetical  letters 
to  them.  In  a  certain  Italian  town,  they  walk  out 
together  in  the  evening  in  the  darkest  comers  of  the 
public  gardens ;  they  kiss  each  other  and  embrace  with 
the  most  irresistible  passion." 

The  Symptomatic  Characteristics  of  the 
Pederasty  of  the  Kanaka  are  guided  by  this  rule : 
he  uses  a  man  when  he  cannot  get  a  woman,  and, 
when  he  can  get  a  woman,  no  longer  practises  the 
vice.  With  him  it  is  not  a  morbid  passion,  as  it  is 
in  the  old  civilised  countries  of  the  Extreme  East, 
where  lust  is  satisfied  indifferently  on  either  men  or 
women,  and  either  the  active  or  passive  role  assumed 
with  the  greatest  facility.  With  the  Kanaka,  it  is 
simply  a  mutual  interchange  of  kindnesses  which  are 
quite  simple  and  natural, — if  that  expression  can  be 
used  in  regard  to  acts  which  are  unnatural.  I  may 
add  that  anal  copulation  is  practised  bestially,  without 
any  of  the  refinements  of  lust  in  which  the  Chinese, 
and  more  especially  the  Annamites,  are  so  expert. 
But  I  will  say   no  more  on  this  filthy  subject. 

At  what  age  do  the  young  Kanakas  commence  to 
practise  this  vice  ?  From  the  confessions  made  to  me, 
I  am  able  to  state  that  matters  are  very  much  the 
same  as  they  are  in  our  large  educational  establish- 
ments. I  say  our,  but  should  rather  have  said  the,  for 
sodomy  is  universal  in  Europe,  and  has  taken  root  every- 
where.    Before  puberty,  the  young  Kanakas  masturbate 


244  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

among  themselves  ;  after  puberty,  and  the  operation  of 
demi-circumcision,  and  at  an  age  when  the  yard  is  not 
yet  fully  developed,  they  take  to  anal  coition.  All 
the  young  sodomites  I  examined,  bore  the  marks  of 
being  both  active  and  passive  agents. 

Cruelties  and  Erotic  Mutilations  committed  by 
the  Kanakas  during  the  Insurrection.  I  have 
explained  at  some  length  his  innate  ferocity.  He 
never  tortures  his  living  enemies,  but  he  abuses  their 
dead  carcases,  and  mutilates  them  erotically,  after 
having  glutted  his  brutal  lusts  on  their  still  breathing 
bodies.  I  have  also  mentioned  that  the  Kanaka  lusts 
after  the  White  woman.  Not  being  able  to  possess 
her  alive,  in  some  cases,  during  the  insurrection,  he 
killed  her,  and  made  her  dead  body  the  instrument  of 
his  lust. 

Many  were  the  cases  that  came  under  my  personal 
notice  of  rapes  on  White  women,  more  often  than  not 
followed  by  mutilation  and  murder.  And  I  could  fill 
a  fairly  large  size  work  with  strange  details  of  savage 
crimes.  The  question  of  the  association  of  lust  and 
cruelty  will  be  examined  a  few  pages  further  on.  I 
shall  not  therefore  stop  to  enquire  into  this  matter 
here,  but  direct  the  student's  attention  to  the  close 
juridical  analysis  of  this  crime,  which  has  been  made 
by  Krafft-Ebing : — By  the  term  rape,  the  jurist 
understands  coitus,  outside  of  the  marriage  relation, 
with  an  adult,  enforced  by  means  of  threats  or  violence ; 
or  with  an  adult  in  a  condition  of  defencelessness  or 
unconsciousness ;  or  with  a  girl  under  the  age  of 
fourteen  years.  Immissio  penis,  or,  at  least,  conjunctio 
membrorum  (Schiitze),  is  necessary  to  establish  the  fact. 
To-day,     rape    on     children    is    remarkably    frequent. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  245 

Hofmann  ("  Ger.  Med."  I,  p.  155)  and  Tardieu 
("Attentats")  report  horrible  cases. 

The  crime  of  rape  presumes  a  temporary,  powerful 
excitation  of  sexual  desire,  induced  by  excess  in  alcohol, 
or  by  some  other  condition.  It  is  highly  improbable 
that  a  man  morally  intact  would  commit  this  most 
brutal  crime.  Lombroso  (Goltdammer's  Arch.)  considers 
the  majority  of  men  who  commit  rape  to  be  degenerate, 
particularly  when  the  crime  is  done  on  children  or  old 
women.  He  asserts,  that,  in  many  such  men,  he  has 
found  actual  signs  of  degeneracy. 

It  is  a  fact  that  rape  is  very  often  the  act  of 
degenerate  male  imbeciles,  '  where,  under  some  cir- 
cumstances, the  bond  of  blood  is  not  respected.  Cases 
as  a  result  of  mania,  satyriasis,  and  epilepsy,  have 
occurred,  and  are  to  be  kept  in  mind. 

The  crime  of  rape  may  follow  the  murder  of  the 
victim.  ^  There  may  be  unintentional  murder,  murder 
to  destroy  the  only  witness  of  the  crime,  or  murder 
out  of  lust  {v.  supra).  Only  for  cases  of  the  latter 
kind  should  the  term  lust-murder  ^  be  used.  The 
motives  of  lust-murder  have  been  previously  considered. 
The  cases  given  in  illustration  are  characteristic  of  the 
manner  of  the  deed.  The  presumption  of  a  murder 
out  of  lust  is  always  given  when  injuries  of  the  genitals 
are  found,  the  character  and  extent  of  which  are  such 
as  could  not  be  explained  by  merely  a  brutal  attempt  at 
coitus;  and  still  more,  when  the  body  has  been  opened,  or 
parts  (intestines,  genitals)  torn  out,  and  are  wanting.  * 

'  Annal.  nicdico-jisychol.,  1849,  p.  515;  1863,  p.  57;  1864, p.  215; 
1866,   p.    253. 

'  Comp,  the  cases  of  Tardieu,  Attentats,  p.    182 — 192. 
'  Comp.   HaltzendorflT,  Psychologic  des  Mords. 
*  Tardieu,  Attentats,  Case  51,  p.    188. 


246  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

A  Case  of  German  "  Lust-murder. "  However 
shocking  the  preceding  case,  and  others  I  may  later 
relate,  may  appear  to  the  student,  I  hardly  need  to 
remind  him  of  the  fact  that  others,  quite  as  bad,  have 
been  perpetrated  in  Europe  by  people,  who  were  not 
held  to  be  savages,  at  least  not  by  race,  and  who 
had  the  advantage  of  being  brought  up  "  under  the 
shadow  of  the  Cross."  Works  on  Medical  Juris- 
prudence are  filled  with  them.  We  will  content  our- 
selves with  a  case  recited  by  Krafft-Ebing  who  points 
out  that  these  "  lust-murders  are  never  committed  with 
accomplices." 

"On  the  evening  of  May  27,  1888,  an  eight-year- 
old  boy,  Blasius,  was  playing  with  other  children  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  the  village  of  S.  An  unknown 
man  came  along  and  enticed  the  boy  into  the  woods. 
The  next  day  the  boy's  body  was  found  in  a  ravine,  with 
the  abdomen  slit  open,  an  incised  wound  in  the  cardiac 
region,  and  two  stab-wounds  in  the  neck. 

"Since,  on  May  21st,  a  man,  answering  to  the  de- 
scription given  of  the  murderer  by  the  children,  had 
attempted  to  treat  a  six-year-old  girl  in  a  similar 
manner,  and  had  only  accidentally  been  detected,  it 
was  presumed  to  be  a  case  of  lust-murder.  It  was 
proved  that  the  body  was  found  in  a  heap,  with  only 
the  shirt  and  jacket  on;  also,  that  there  was  a  long 
incision  in  the  scrotum. 

"  Suspicion  fell  upon  a  peasant,  E. ;  but,  on  confronta- 
tion with  the  children,  it  was  not  possible  to  identify 
him  with  the  stranger  who  had  enticed  the  boy  into 
the  woods.  Besides,  with  the  help  of  his  sister,  he 
proved  an  alibi.  The  untiring  efforts  of  the  officers 
brought  new  evidence  to  light,  and  finally  E.  confessed. 
He  had   enticed   the   girl   into  the  woods,  thrown  her 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  247 

down,  exposed  her  genitals,  and  was  about  to  abuse 
her;  but,  as  she  had  an  eruption  on  her  head,  and  was 
crying  loudly,  his  desire  cooled,  and  he  fled. 

"  After  he  enticed  the  boy  into  the  woods,  with  the 
pretext  of  showing  him  a  bird's  nest,  he  was  taken 
with  a  desire  to  abuse  him.  Since  the  boy  refused  to 
take  off  his  trousers,  he  did  it  for  him ;  and  when  the 
boy  began  to  cry  out,  he  stabbed  him  twice  in  the 
neck.  Then  he  made  an  incision,  just  above  the  pubes, 
in  imitation  of  female  genitals,  in  order  to  use  it  to 
satisfy  his  lust.  But,  since  the  body  grew  cold 
immediately,  he  lost  his  desire,  and,  cleaning  his  knife 
and  hands  near  the  body,  he  fled.  When  he  saw  the 
boy  dead,  he  was  filled  with  fear,  and  his  limbs 
became  weak. 

"  During  his  examination  E.  looked  apathetically  at 
a  garland.  He  had  acted  in  a  state  of  mental  weak- 
ness. He  could  not  understand  how  he  came  to  do 
such  a  thing.  He  must  have  been  beside  himself; 
for  he  often  became  senseless,  so  that  he  would  almost 
fall  down.  Previous  employers  report  that  he  had 
periods  when  he  was  devoid  of  thought  and  confused, 
doing  no  work  all  day,  and  avoiding  others.  His 
father  states  that  E.  learned  with  difiiculty,  was  un- 
skilful at  work,  and  often  so  obstinate  that  one  did 
not  think  to  punish  him.  At  such  times  he  would  not 
eat,  and  occasionally  ran  away  and  remained  all  day. 
At  such  times  he  also  seemed  quite  lost  in  thought, 
screwed  his  face  up,  and  said  senseless  things.  When 
quite  a  boy,  he  still  sometimes  wetted  the  bed,  and  often 
came  home  from  school  with  wet  or  soiled  clothing. 
He  was  very  restless  in  sleep,  so  that  no  one  could 
sleep  beside  him.  He  had  never  had  playmates.  He 
had  never  been  cruel,  bad,  or  immoral. 


248  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS   OF 

"  His  mother  gave  similar  testimony ;  and  further, 
that  in  his  fifth  year,  E.  first  had  convulsions,  and 
once  lost  the  power  of  speech  for  seven  days.  Some 
time  about  his  seventh  year  he  once  had  convulsions 
for  forty  days,  and  was  also  dropsical.  Later,  too,  he 
was  often  seized  in  sleep,  and  he  often  then  talked  in 
his  sleep;  and  mornings,  after  such  nights,  the  bed 
was  found  wet. 

"  At  times  it  was  impossible  to  do  anything  with  him. 
Since  his  mother  did  not  know  whether  it  was  due  to 
viciousness  or  disease,  she  did  not  venture  to  punish  him. 

"Since  his  convulsions,  in  his  seventh  year,  he  had 
failed  so  in  mind  that  he  could  not  learn  even  the 
common  prayers,  and  he  also  became  very  irascible. 

"  Neighbours,  persons  prominent  in  the  community,  and 
teachers  state  that  E.  was  peculiar,  weak-minded,  and 
irascible ;  that  at  times  he  was  very  strange,  and  appa- 
rently in  an  exceptional  mental  state. 

"  The  examinations  of  the  medical  experts  gave  the 
following  results: — E.  is  tall,  slim,  and  poorly  nourished. 
His  head  measures  53  centimeters  in  circumference. 
The  cranium  is  rhombic,  and  in  the  occipital  region 
flattened. 

"  His  expression  is  devoid  of  intelligence ;  his  glance 
is  fixed,  expressionless;  his  attitude  is  careless,  and 
his  body  is  bent  forward.  Movements  are  slow  and 
heavy.  Genitals  normally  developed.  E.'s  whole  appear- 
ance points  to  torpidity  and  mental  weakness. 

"  There  are  no  signs  of  degenerative  marks,  no  abnor- 
mity of  the  vegetative  organs,  and  no  disturbances  of 
motility  or  sensibility.  He  comes  of  a  perfectly  healthy 
family.  He  knows  nothing  of  convulsions  or  of  wetting 
his  bed  at  night,  but  he  states  that,  of  late  years,  he 
has  had  attacks  of  vertigo  and  loss  of  mind. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  249 

"  At  first,  in  circumlocution,  he  denies  the  murder. 
Later,  in  great  contrition,  before  the  examining  judge, 
he  confessed  all,  and  gave  a  clear  motive  for  his  crime. 
He  had  never  had  such  a  thought  before. 

"  He  has  been  given  to  onanism  for  years ;  he  even 
practised  it  twice  daily.  He  states  that,  for  want  of 
courage,  he  had  never  ventured  to  ask  coitus  of  a 
woman,  though  in  dreams  such  scenes  exclusively 
passed  before  him.  Neither  in  dreams  nor  in  the 
waking  state  had  he  ever  had  perverse  instincts;  par- 
ticularly no  sadistic  or  contrary  sexual  feelings.  Also, 
the  sight  of  the  slaughter  of  animals  had  never  interested 
him.  When  he  enticed  the  girl  into  the  woods,  his 
desire  was  to  satisfy  his  lust  with  her ;  but  how  it 
happened  that  he  tried  such  a  thing  with  a  boy,  he 
could  not  explain.  He  thought  he  must  have  been 
out  of  his  mind  at  that  time.  The  night  after  the 
murder  he  could  not  sleep  on  account  of  fear;  he  had 
twice  confessed  already,  to  ease  his  conscience.  He 
was  only  afraid  of  being  hung.  This  should  not  be 
done,  as  he  had  done  the  deed  in  a  weak-minded 
condition. 

"  He  could  not  tell  why  he  had  cut  open  the  boy's 
abdomen.  It  had  not  occurred  to  him  to  handle  the 
intestines,  smell  them,  etc. 

"He  stated  that,  after  the  attempt  on  the  girl  in  the 
day-time,  and  in  the  night,  after  the  murder  of  the 
boy,  he  had  convulsions.  At  the  time  of  his  crime  he 
was  indeed  conscious,  but  he  had  not  thought  at  all 
of  what  he  did. 

"  He  suffered  much  with  headache ;  could  not  endure 
heat,  thirst,  or  alcohol;  there  were  times  when  he  was 
perfectly  confused.  The  test  of  his  intelligence  showed 
a  high  grade  of  weak-mindedness. 


250  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS   OF 

"  The  opinion  (Dr.  Kautzner,  of  Graz)  showed  the 
imbecility  and  neurosis  of  the  accused,  and  made  it 
probable  that  his  crime,  of  which  he  had  only  a 
general  recollection,  had  been  committed  in  an  excep- 
tional (prae-epileptic)  mental  state,  conditioned  by  the 
neurosis.  Under  all  circumstances,  E.  was  considered 
dangerous,  and  probably  would  require  commitment  to 
an  asylum  for  life."  * 

It  seems  almost  a  relief  after  this,  to  get  back  to  our 
Kanakas  in  the  woods,  for  amongst  them  we  are 
used  to  this  sort  of  thing,  and  experience  has  taught 
us  to  wait  for  it,  ever  on  the  alert  with  horse  and 
revolver  to  fight  or  to  fly  as  circumstances  may  dictate. 
1  would  be  the  last  to  undertake  the  defence  of  the 
atrocious  acts  of  the  Kanaka,  but  he  can  at  least 
plead  his  savage,  "  uncivilised"  condition,  and  moreover, 
has  centuries  of  inherited  tendency  behind  him  im- 
pelling him  ("  quien  sabe?")  irresistibly  on  towards 
the  realisation  of  his  necrophilic  instincts. 

White  Women  beheaded  and  violated.  There 
is  plenty  of  evidence  that  the  unfortunate  wives  and 
daughters  of  the  colonists,  who  were  killed  during  the 
insurrection,  were  decapitated,  and  afterwards  violated. 
Many  were  eaten; — the  limbs  and  the  breasts  at  least, 
if  not  the  entire  body.  The  bodies  that  were  found, 
bore  marks  of  erotic  mutilations  of  a  fantastic  kind. 

When  war  is  declared,  and  hostilities  commence, 
the  warriors  are  ordered  to  avoid  women.  Copulation 
is  forbidden  to  them,  but  to  violate  the  headless  trunks 
of  White  women  is  not  considered  an  infringement  of 
the  rule.  The  reader  may  perhaps  think  I  am  exag- 
gerating,   so    I    will    therefore  ask   permission   to  lay 

*  Krafft-Ebing,  Psychopathia  Sexualis,  p.  397. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  251 

before  him  a  couple  of  quotations,  in  support  of  my 
statements.  The  first  is  an  account  of  the  massacres 
of  la  Foa  and  la  Fonwari,  as  related  by  Commandant 
Riviere. 

"  The  Kanakas  continue  to  murder,  and  to  set  fire 
to  the  houses.  The  waggons  afford  a  proof  of  this. 
One  is  laden  with  wounded  people,  the  other  with 
sixteen  dead  bodies.  Most  of  the  wounded  are  insen- 
sible, some  groan,  and  others  are  delirious.  The 
wounds,  which  are  nearly  always  on  the  skull,  or 
back  of  the  neck,  are  deep  cuts,  made  with  the  axe, 
or  the  bird's  beak  club.  All  these  persons  have  been 
struck  from  behind,  at  a  moment  when  they  did  not 
expect  it,  by  Kanakas  whom  they  knew.  The  savages 
had  amused  themselves  by  practising  on  the  dead 
bodies  various  refinements  of  cruelty  or  lust.  Some 
of  the  limbs  were  wanting,  and  had  been  separated 
from  the  trunk  by  an  axe.  Others  showed  ablations 
made  with  a  knife,  or  even  with  the  teeth,  or  mon- 
strous or  derisive  obstructions  with   wooden  plugs." 

In  spite  of  the  intentional  reticence  of  the  author, 
the  reader  will  understand  the  nature  of  these  ablations 
and   obstructions.  ^ 

Bechir,  the  Arab.  A  short  time  after  the  insur- 
rection had  been  put  down,  I  became  acquainted  with 
one  of  the  Arab  convicts,  who  had  acted  as  a  scout 
against  the  Kanakas.  This  Arab,  whose  name  was 
Bechir,  had  distinguished  himself  by  his  courage,  and 

'  "  Eunuchs  and  Eunuchism"  (in  course  of  preparation)  will  contain 
an  account  of  a  number  of  cases  of  similar  mutilations  which  have 
been  perpetrated  iti  Europe.  There  does  not  exist,  as  far  as  we  know, 
any  work  dealing  specifically,  and  in  a  serious  way,  with  this  department 
of  medical  and  juridical  anthropology. 


252  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

he  was  an  eye-witness  of  the  massacre  of  Bouloupari. 
He  had  asked,  as  the  sole  reward  for  his  services,  to 
be  sent  back  to  Algeria,  and  passed  his  time  in  writing 
begging  petitions,  in  which  he  naively  recounted  his 
brave  deeds.  From  one  of  these  petitions,  I  extract 
the  following  lines,  which  are  also  reproduced  in  the 
Lcttres  d'un  Alarm. 

"  I  arrived  at  Bouloupari,  and  first  went  towards 
the  Gendarmerie.  There  were  four  horses  in  the  stables. 
Near  a  hay-cart,  two  convicts  lay,  bathed  in  their 
blood.  I  then  went  to  the  Kiosque,  where  the  gen- 
darmes usually  took  their  meals.  Ten  yards  from  the 
Kiosque,  lay  the  body  of  the  cook,  face  downwards. 
He  had  been  struck  with  an  axe  on  the  back  of  the 
neck,  and  his  hands  were  still  holding  in  their  death 
grip  a  dish  broken  in  two.  Four  gendarmes  had  met 
their  death  as  they  were  leaving  the  Kiosque, — no 
doubt  to  fetch  their  arms.  At  the  telegraph  office,  the 
body  of  the  clerk  lay  in  the  road,  his  face  turned 
towards  the  sky ;  his  little  black  dog  was  watching 
beside  him.  Behind  the  telegraph  office  was  the  house 
of  the  Kleiches ;  the  husband  lay  with  his  skull  split ; 
his  wife  was  naked,  her  body  covered  with  wounds 
and  bruises,  and  a  broken  bottle  pushed  into  her  belly. 

"  Still  keeping  on  my  horse,  for  I  was  a;fraid  of  being 
taken  alive,  I  entered  the  convicts'  camp.  They  lay 
pell-mell,  murdered  during  their  siesta;  two  of  them 
were  still  in  their  dying  agonies.  At  the  overseers' 
hut,  the  fire  prevented  me  from  counting  the  victims. 
At  Mostini's  house,  all  were  dead ;  Mme  Mostini  had 
been  violated,  a7id  her  abdomen  torn  open  up  to  the 
navel.  Her  little  sister  had  taken  refuge  under  the 
body.  She  had  also  been  killed,  and  had  suffered  the 
same  mutilation  as  her  sister." 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  2S3 

Louis,  the  Kanaka  Interpreter.  Louis,  a  Kanaka, 
an  interpreter  on  board  a  ship,  and  who  spoke  French 
very  well,  played  an  important  part  in  the  massacres 
of  la  Poya.  He  was  employed  by  a  European  mer- 
chant. He  fell  in  love  with  Mme  V***,  a  superb 
blonde,  the  wife  of  an  English  colonist,  and  as  she 
refused  to  favour  his  suit,  he  resolved  to  profit  by  the 
massacre  of  the  Whites  to  satisfy  his  passion.  Knowing 
that  the  husband  was  absent,  he  went  to  Mme  V***'s 
house,  with  five  other  Kanakas.  They  began  by  mur- 
dering the  children.  Mme  V***  seized  a  loaded  double- 
barrelled  shot  gun,  and  killed  two  of  the  assassins. 
Then  Louis,  the  interpreter,  split  her  head  open.  At 
this  moment  M.  V***  rode  up  on  horseback,  but  seeing 
that  the  murderers  were  four  to  one,  he  had  not  the 
courage  to  attempt  to  avenge  the  murder  of  his  wife 
and  family,  and  rode  off  at  full  gallop.  Louis  satisfied 
his  brutal  passion  upon  the  still  palpitating  body  of 
the  poor  woman,  then  the  Kanakas  cut  her  in  pieces, 
as  they  would  a  sheep,  roasted  her  at  a  Kanaka  stove, 
and  Louis  ate,  for  his  share,  the  heart  and  one  of  the 
arms.  These  facts  were  notorious  at  Oubatche,  where 
Louis  was  shot,  and  were  related  to  me  by  a  colonist, 
who  was  present  at  the  execution  of  the  interpreter.  ^ 

Acts  of  Sadism.  The  kind  of  crime  last  de- 
scribed falls  into  the  category  of  what  is  known 
as  "Sadism,"  by  which  term  is  meant  the  "association 
of  lust  and  cruelty "  as  a  means  of  satisfying  the 
senses,  the  name  of  course  being  derived  from  that 
of  the  infamous  Marquis  de  Sade.  ^     It  is  possible  that, 

'  Tardieu  establishes  the  fact  that,  from  1851  to  1875  inclusive,  22,017 
cases  of  rape  came  before  the  courts  in  France,  and,  of  these,  17,657 
were  conmitted  on  children! 

•  Leo    Taxil    gives    some    interesting    details    of  this    sexual    monster. 


254  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF 

although  violence  would  undoubtedly  have  been  in 
any  case  employed,  murder  would  not  have  followed 
the  accomplishment  of  the  sexual  act  had  not  this 
courageous  woman  "  shown  fight ",  and  quietly  submitted 
to  the  monster's  lustful  attacks.  Krafft-Ebing,  the 
great  pathologist,  than  whom  no  other  has  made  a 
more  profound  study  of  these  delicate  matters,  points 
out  that  "  the  conquest  of  woman  takes  place  to-day  in 
the  social  form  of  courting,  in  seduction  and  deception. 
From  the  history  of  civilisation  and  anthropology  we 
know  that  there  have  been  times,  as  there  are  savages 
to-day  that  practice  it,  where  brutal  force,  robbery,  or 
even  blows  that  rendered  a  woman  powerless,  were 
made  use  of  to  obtain  love's  desire.  It  is  possible 
that  tendencies  to  such  outbreaks  of  sadism  are 
atavistic. "  Under  the  section  of  "  Paraesthesia  of 
Sexual  Feeling"  —  "Perversion  of  the  Sexual  Instinct" 

which  must  have  been  a  case,  Krafft-Ebing  thinks,  "  of  habitual  satyri- 
asis, accompanied  by  perverse  sexual  instinct."  Sade  was  so  cynical 
that  he  deliberately  sought  to  idealise  his  cruel  lasciviousness,  and  took 
glory  in  proclaiming  himself,  by  all  means  available,  the  apostle  of  a 
theory  based  upon  it.  Utterly  corrupt  both  in  mind  and  body,  he  lost 
no  opportunity  of  realising  his  lustful  theories.  Amongst  other  sensual 
erraticisms,  he  threw  an  entire  company  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  into 
an  erotic  paroxysm,  who  had  responded  to  his  invitation  to  dinner,  by 
causing  them  to  be  served  with  chocolate  bon-bons  which  contained  a  strong 
mixture  of  cantharides.  His  lewdness  and  perversity  earned  for  him  a 
committal  to  the  Insane  Asylum  at  Charenton,  from  which  he  made 
good  his  escape  during  tlie  Revolution  of  1790.  He  afterwards  wrote 
(the  fruit  of  his  meditations  at  the  French  "  Colney  Hatch "  ?)  obscene 
novels  filled  with  lust,  cruelty  and  the  most  disgustingly  obscene  scenes 
which  the  human  imagination  in  the  hour  of  its  wildest  nightmare  has  ever 
bodied  forth.  He  had  the  audacity  to  present  Bonaparte  with  a  mag- 
nificently bound  copy  of  these  "  precious "  productions,  on  the  latter's 
attaining  the  Consulate.  It  is  to  the  credit  of  Bonaparte  that  he  had 
these  works  destroyed,  and  the  author  again  lodged  at  Charenton4 
where  he  died,  at  the  age  of  64. 


ANTH  KOPOLOG  Y.  2SS 

in  that  comprehensive  work  "  Psychopathia  Sexualis, " 
the  student  will  find  quite  sufficient  fact  and  theory 
to  start  him  on  the  road  of  independent  enquiry  for 
himself.  The  German  doctor  calls  special  attention  to 
the  "  Association  of  Active  Cruelty  and  Violence  with 
Lust "  to  which  phenomenon,  he  says,  writers  of  all 
kinds  have  invited  notice.  ^ 

The  Mutilation  and  Outraging  of  Corpses  come 
under  the  designation  of  sadistic  acts,  and  are  probably 
amongst  the  most  horrible  of  all  sexual  perversions. 
The  necrophiles  form  a  group  apart.  They  call  for 
the  pitiful-loving  study  of  the  anthropologist  and 
alienist,  for  no  other  can  relieve  or  understand  their 
awful  state  of  mind. 

"  This  horrible  kind  of  sexual  indulgence,"  says  KraflFt- 
Ebing  (p.  430),  "  is  so  monstrous  that  the  presumption 
of  a  psychopathic  state  is,  under  all  circumstances, 
justified;  and  Maschka's  recommendation,  that  the 
mental  condition  of  the  perpetrator  should  always  be 
investigated,  is  well  founded.  In  any  case,  an  abnormal 
and  decidedly  perverse  sensuality  is  required  to  over- 
come the  natural  repugnance  which  man  has  for  a 
corpse,  and  permit  a  feeling  of  pleasure  to  be  experienced 
in  sexual  congress  with  a  cadaver. 

"  Unfortunately,  in  the  majority  of  the  cases  reported 
the  mental  condition  was  not  examined;  so  that  the 
question  whether  necrophilia  is  compatible  with  mental 
soundness  must  remain  open.  But  anyone  having 
knowledge  of  the  horrible  aberrations  of  the  sexual 
instinct  would  not  venture,  without  further  consideration, 
to  answer  the  question  in  the  negative." 

*  U.  A.  Novalis  in  his  Fragments ;  Gorres,  Christliche  Mystik, 
▼ol.  Ill,  p.  460. 


256  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

In  these  cases,  just  as  with  lustful  murderers  and 
analogous  cases,  an  idea  which  in  itself  awakens 
a  feeling  of  horror,  and  before  which  a  healthy- 
person  would  shudder,  is  accompanied  by  lustful 
feelings,  and  thus  leads  to  the  impulse  to  indulge  in 
acts  of  necrophilia. 

The  cases  of  mutilation  of  bodies  mentioned  in 
literature  seem  to  be  pathological;  but,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  celebrated  one  of  Sergeant  Bertrand,  ^  they 
come  far  from  being  described  and  observed  with 
exactness.  In  certain  cases  there  may  be  nothing 
more  than  the  possibility  that  unbridled  desire  sees  in 
the  idea  of  death  no  obstacle  to  its  satisfaction.  The 
seventh  case  mentioned  by  Moreau  is  perhaps  such  a 
one  : — 

A  man,  aged  23,  attempted  to  rape  a  woman,  aged 
53.  Struggling,  he  killed  her  and  then  violated  her, 
threw  her  in  the  water,  and  fished  her  out  again  for 
renewed  violation.  The  murderer  was  executed.  The 
meninges  of  the  anterior  lobes  were  thickened  and 
adherent  to  the  cortex.  French  writers  have  recorded 
numerous  examples  of  necrophilia.  Two  cases  con- 
cerned monks,  where  they  were  performing  the  watch 
for  the  dead.  In  a  third  case  the  subject  was  an 
idiot,  who  also  suffered  from  periodical  mania,  and 
after  commission  of  rape  was  sent  to  an  insane  asylum, 
and  there  mutilated  female  bodies  in  the  mortuary. 

In  other  cases,  however,  there  is  undoubtedly  direct 
preference  of  a  corpse  to  the  living  woman.  When 
no  other  act  of  cruelty — cutting  into  pieces,  etc. — is 
practised   on   the  cadaver,  it  is  probable  that  the  life- 

'  Vide  Krafft-Ebing,  PsycJiopathia  Sextialis,  Philadelphia,  1895,  p. 
69 — 70;  Legrand,  La  folic  devant  les  Tribunaux,  p.  524;  Tardieu, 
Attentats  aux  Mceurs,  Paris,    1878,  p.    114. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  257 

less  condition  itself  forms  the  stimulus  for  the  perverse 
individual.  It  is  possible  that  the  corpse — a  human  form 
absolutely  without  will — satisfies  an  abnormal  desire, 
in  that  the  object  of  desire  is  seen  to  be  capable  of 
absolute  subjugation,  without  possibility  of  resistance. 
Brierre  de  Boismont  ("  Gazette  medicale  ",  July  2  ist,  1859) 
relates  the  history  of  a  corpse-violator  who,  after 
bribing  the  watchman,  had  gained  entrance  to  the 
corpse  of  a  girl  of  sixteen,  who  belonged  to  a  family 
of  high  social  position.  At  night  a  noise  was  heard 
in  the  death-chamber,  as  if  a  piece  of  furniture  had 
fallen  over.  The  mother  of  the  dead  girl  effected  an 
entrance,  and  saw  a  man  dressed  in  his  night-shirt 
springing  from  the  bed  where  the  body  lay.  It  was 
at  first  thought  that  the  man  was  a  thief,  but  the  real 
explanation  was  soon  discovered.  It  was  afterward 
ascertained  that  the  culprit,  a  man  of  good  family,  had 
often  violated  the  bodies  of  young  women.  He  was 
sentenced  to  imprisonment  for  life.  The  story  of  a 
prelate,  reported  by  Taxil  ("  La  prostitution  contempo- 
raine",  p.  171),  is  of  great  interest  as  an  example 
of  necrophilia.  From  time  to  time  he  would  visit 
houses  of  prostitution  in  Paris  and  order  a  prostitute, 
dressed  in  white  like  a  corpse,  to  be  laid  out  on  a 
bed.  At  the  appointed  hour  he  would  appear  in  the 
room,  which,  in  the  meantime,  had  been  elaborately 
prepared  as  a  room  of  mourning;  then  he  would  act 
as  if  reading  a  mass  for  the  soul,  and  finally  throw 
himself  on  the  girl,  who,  during  the  whole  time,  was 
compelled  to  play  the  role  of  a  corpse.  ^  We  have 
neither   time  nor   space   to  go  into  Krafft-Ebing's  ex- 

*  Simon  [^Crimes  et  de'lits,  p.  209)  mentions  an  experience  of  Lacas- 
sagne's,  to  whom  a  respectable  man  said  that  he  was  never  intensely 
excited  sexually  except  when  a  spectator  at  a  funeral. 


258    UNTRODDEN  FIELDS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

planation  of  the  pathological  conditions  that  give  rise 
to  these  lustful  obsessions;  our  aim  will  be  sufficiently 
attained  if  we  induce  the  student  to  go  directly  to  the 
master's  work. 

Krafft-Ebing  is  careful  to  observe  that  "the  not 
infrequent  cases  where  individuals  of  very  excitable 
sexual  natures  bite  or  scratch  the  companion  in  inter- 
course fall  within  physiological  limits."  In  the  course 
of  my  practice  I  have  known  numbers  of  both  sexes 
resort  to  this  where  the  harm  done  was  very  small 
and  due  to  nothing  else  than  intense  passion  for  the 
beloved.  I  may  be  allowed  to  quote  three  lines  from 
Alfred  de  Musset's  ode  to  the  Andalusian  girl  and  am 
sure  that  the  beauty  of  them  will  more  than  justify 
me  in  the  reader's  eyes  for  their  introduction. 

"  Qu'elle  est  supe'rbe  en  son  desordre — 

Quand  elle  tombe  les  seins  nixs — 
Qu'on  la  voit  bfeante,  se  tordre — 

Dans   un  baiser  de  rage  et  mordre — 
En  hurlant  des  mots  inconnus !  " 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  convict  in  New  Caledonia. — The  motives  for  this  chapter. 
—  The  Penitentiary  of  Nou  Island. —  The  convict  as  a  family 
servant. —  The  ticket-of-leave  man. —  The  convent  of  B our  ail. — 
Lesbians  and  "  fellatrices" . — Tribadism  in  Europe.  —  Tribads  are 
not  Sapphics.  —  The  courtesans  of  Greece. — Lombroso  on  the  causes 
of  this  vice. — Natural  wantonness. — Environment  as  a  Factor. 
— Secret  clubs  of  vice. — Advanced  age,  another  cause. — Disgust 
born  of  excess. —  Congenital  tendency. —  The  criminality  of 
husbands. —  The  military  post  at  Bourail. —  The  General's  cap. 
— "  Je  m'emmerde,  and  I  ivant  a  man". — Marriage  of  liberated 
convicts.  —  Sodomy  and  pederasty  amongst  the  convicts. — Prisons 
as  breeder  of  vice.  —  The  universality  of  the  vice. — Infamous 
passions. 

The  Motives  for  this  Chapter.  I  will  terminate 
the  portion  of  the  book  relating  to  New  Caledonia,  by- 
saying  a  few  words  about  transportation,  in  order  to 
complete  the  study  of  the  subject  I  have  already  made 
concerning  Guiana.  I  have  said  that  as  the  worthy 
ex-convicts  died  like  flies,  in  the  unhealthy  colony  of 
Guiana,  some  philanthropic  humanitarians  had  the  in- 
genious idea  of  sending  them  to  New  Caledonia,  one 
of  the  healthiest  climates  in  the  world,  and  one  of  the 
very  few  tropical  climates  in  which  a  European  can 
work  without  danger  from  the  sun.  I  will  not  discuss 
here  the  future  of  this  kind  of  colonisation,  I  will  con- 

259 


260  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS  OF 

tent  myself  with  studying  the  special  manners  of  these 
not  very  interesting  personages. 

The  Penitentiary  of  Nou  Island.  On  Nou  Island, 
at  the  entrance  to  the  harbour  of  Noumea,  is  the  cen- 
tral Penitentiary,  containing  three  to  four  thousand 
convicts.  In  the  environs  of  Noumea,  and  in  certain 
other  places  in  the  Colony,  are  camps  of  convicts,  em- 
ployed in  works  outside  the  Penitentiary,  which,  how- 
ever, contains  all  the  central  workshops.  The  office 
of  the  Penitentiary  Administration  is  at  Noumea,  and 
there  application  must  be  made  to  obtain  convicts,  who 
are  hired  out  for  a  certain  sum.  All  cannot  obtain  this 
favour,  but  only  those  convicts  whose  conduct  is  "  first- 
class",  who  by  their  docility,  and  relative  morality, 
deserve  the  good  opinion  of  the  officers. 

The  Convict  as  a  Family  Domestic.  From  the 
class  last  mentioned, — which,  if  not  the  most  culpable 
is,  in  my  eyes  at  least,  the  most  hypocritical — 
are  taken  the  gargons  de  famille  who  occupy,  in 
the  households  of  civilians,  and  the  functionaries  of 
the  Penitentiary,  the  same  position  that  the  "  orderly" 
does  in  military  households.  Commandant  Riviere,  in 
his  Souvenirs  de  la  Nouvelle  Cale'donie,  describes  in 
a  sentimental  and — in  my  opinion — much  too  flattering 
manner,  these  garfons  de  famille.  He  makes  them 
out  to  be, — not  men  marked  with  the  brand  of  infamy, 
but  valuable  assistants,  and  companions,  to  whom  you 
easily  get  habituated.  With  all  due  deference  to  him, 
I  think  this  glowing  account  must  be  considerably 
toned  down.  Those  who  employ  the  garfons  de  famille, 
do  so  because  their  means  do  not  allow  them  to  take 
other  servants,     A  "  hired  man"  from  the  New  Hebrides 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  261 

is  much  more  trustworthy,  and  faithful,  than  a  first- 
class  convict.  "  The  cask  always  smells  of  the  herring, " 
as  the  old  proverb  truly  says.  If  the  gargon  de  fa- 
Tnille  does  not  dare  to  steal,  at  least  he  will  become, 
whenever  you  send  him  away,  a  valuable  accomplice 
of  his  comrades  who  have  escaped  from  Nou  Island, 
and  who  at  Noumea,  rob  almost  with  impunity.  When 
this  excellent  servant  learns  where  you  keep  your 
money,  he  will  make  it  known  to  his  friends  and 
acquaintances,  and  some  fine  night,  when  you  return 
home,  you  will  find  that  your  house  has  been  cleaned 
out.  Not  only  money,  but  also  clothes  and  arms,  will 
become  the  spoil  of  the  robber,  who,  thus  rigged  out, 
can  hide  himself  in  the  suburbs  of  Noumea,  and,  if 
need  be,  defend  himself  against  the  Kanakas  of  the 
native  police,  who  are  always  on  the  track  of  escaped 
convicts. 

The  Liberated  Convict.  When  the  transported 
convict,  condemned  to  eight  years  or  more  of  hard 
labour,  has  finished  his  time,  he  has  to  reside,  for  the 
same  number  of  years,  in  some  fixed  residence.  He 
then  becomes  Monsieur  le  Libert,  and  the  never  failing 
manna  of  the  favour  of  the  prison  authorities  is  rained 
upon  him  ever  and  always.  For  "  Messieurs  les  Liberes  " 
there  has  been  created  a  real  colony,  in  the  valley  of 
Bourail,  the  finest,  largest,  and  most  fertile  valley  in 
the  island.  Commandant  Riviere  has  described  this 
colony  in  his  book,  as  he  saw  it  through  the  enchanted 
prism  of  his  imagination.  To  this  work,  from  which  I 
have  already  quoted,  I  refer  the  reader  anxious  to 
know  his  opinion.  Mine  is  radically  different,  and  the 
picture  of  the  existence  of  the  liberated  convict,  who 
has  been  granted  an  allotment,  is,  to  my  mind,  quite 


262  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

misleading.  He  makes  out  these  ex-convicts  to  be 
repenting  angels.  I  venture  to  assert  that  they  are 
quite  the  reverse,  and  support  my  statement  by  the 
general  opinion  of  all  the  colonists  of  New  Caledonia. 
For,  in  the  first  place,  it  is  not  in  the  power  of  any 
regulations  in  the  world,  reformatory  or  not,  to  alter 
human  nature  when  it  is  vicious.  In  the  name  of 
common  sense,  what  are  we  to  expect  from  the  union 
of  a  thief,  or  an  assassin,  with  a  girl  convicted  of  infan- 
ticide, or,  at  least,  a  thief,  or  a  prostitute,  or  a  jail  bird 
of  some  kind,  from  the  central  prison? 

The  Convent  of  Bourail.  Let  us  speak  in  the 
first  place  of  the  celebrated  convent  of  Bourail,  the 
inmates  of  which  are  sweet  and  docile  lambs,  according 
to  Commandant  Riviere.  In  this  etablishment  are  penned 
up  (the  word  is  not  a  whit  too  strong)  a  lot  of  women 
sent  from  France,  and  who  have  been  taken  from  the 
central  prisons  to  make  future  mothers  of  families.  On 
their  arrival  at  Noumea,  on  the  steamers  (generally 
those  of  the  Compagnie  des  Chargeurs  Reunis  of 
Havre),  they  are  sent  direct  to  the  convent  at  Bourail, 
that  they  may  recover  from  the  fatigue  of  the  journey, 
and  live  in  peace  and  piety,  until  the  excellent  Admin- 
istration gives  them  husbands  after  their  own  heart. 
The  reader  may  easily  guess,  whether  nymphs  of  this 
sort  are  likely  to  spend  their  time  in  telling  their  beads, 
knitting  socks,  or  making  baby  linen.  The  first  thing 
they  demand  with  might  and  main,  is  a  Government 
grant,  with  a  man  attached  to  it.  Like  the  Greeks  in 
La  Belle  H^Une,  they  must  have  love  if  it  was  all 
there  was  in  the  world. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  263 

Lesbians  '  and  Fellatrices.  ^  They  continue  in  the 
convent  their  habits  as  Lesbians  and  fellatrices  which 
they  have  learned  in  those  convents  of  France,  on  the 
doors  of  which  are  inscribed  "  No.  69",  in  large  characters, 
and  from  which  many  of  them  come.  The  others  have 
walked  the  streets  of  the  large  towns,  and  are  not  much 
better,  if  they  are  not  worse.  The  "  marmite  "  of  the 
souteneur  makes  a  worthy  pair  with  the  whore  from 
the  brothel.  It  may  easily  be  understood,  that, — with 
the  best  will  in  the  world, —  the  sisters  of  Saint  Joseph, 
who  have  the  charge  of  the  souls  of  this  flock  of 
scabby  sheep,  cannot  be  everywhere.  Oh,  those  poor 
sisters!  To  gain  their  place  in  Paradise,  they  must 
suffer  Hell  upon  earth.  In  spite  of  the  means  they 
^have  for  dissipating  the  ennuis  of  confinement,  the 
prisoners  want  the  open  air  and  liberty,  and  are  inclined 
to  marry  the  first-comer  who  means  business.  No 
matter    what    is  the  age,  the  appearance,  or  the  skin, 

*  A  verb  exists,  lesbiare  (Xsa^Lcc^SLv),  to  depict  this  vice.  Blondeau's 
diet,  defines  it  "  Aimer  d  la  mani'ere  de  Sappho ;  vouloir  imiter  Us 
homtnes  dans  les  caresses  qu'on  fait  aux  belles  personnes  de  son 
sexe;  tribader ;  gamahticher.  Les  Lesbiennes  sont  cel^bres  pour  avoir 
rendu  la  bouche  le  plus  frequent  organe  de  la  volupt6.  Elles  employ- 
aient  la  langue  a  se  faire  plaisir  mutuellement,  et  elles  affectaient  la 
blancheur  aux  l^vres.  We  have  already  spoken  of  the  novels  on  the 
vice;  one  of  them,  Les  deux  Amies  of  Ren6  Maizeroy  was  suppressed. 

•  Latin  fellator,  fellatrix  from  fellare,  to  suck ;  mettre  dans  la 
bouche  le  membre  en  Erection ;  also  called  irrumare  which,  as  showing 
the  frightful  distortion  of  words,  meant  (vide  Forberg)  "  to  give  the 
breast "  It  is  strange  that  a  disgusting  habit  of  this  kind  should  have 
found  an  author.  Les  Fellatores,  is  a  book  that  was  suppressed,  but 
copies  are  still  to  be  met  with.  See  for  fuller  explanation  of  these 
words,  with  illustrative  passages  from  the  ancient  writers,  Rambach's 
Thesaurus  Eroticus  Linguae  Latmae  (Stuttgart,  1833);  Forberg's 
Manuel  d'Eroiologie  Classique  (Paris,  1882);  and  Blondeau's  Diction- 
naire  Erotique  latin-franpais  (Paris,  Liseux,    1885). 


264  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS   OF 

of  Monsieur  le  Libere  who  comes  to  ask  their  hand. 
He  brings  liberty  at  the  end  of  his  4>(ajAAo?,  and  that 
is  all  they  want. 

We  take  this  opportunity  to  go  more  fully  into  the 
nature  and  causes  of  this  frightful  feminine  perversion, 
which,  since  I  quitted  the  colonies,  seems  to  have  made 
such  terrible  strides  as  a  factor  not  to  be  counted  with 
lightly.  Our  observations  to  a  large  extent  are  based 
upon  the  profound  and  extensive  study  of  our  master, 
Lombroso,  whom  we  have  to  thank  for  many  a  fertile 
suggestion.  His  able  work,  La  Fenmie  Criminelle  et 
la  Prostituec  is  a  mine  of  information  upon  the  vices 
and  waywardness  of  womankind. 

Tribadism  in  Europe.  The  sole  predominant  ano- 
maly which  is  really  very  prevalent  among  prostitutes, 
is,  says  Lombroso,  tribadism.  Speaking  of  this  vice, 
Parent-Duchatelet  observes  that  all  or  nearly  all  pros- 
titutes are  given  to  it ;  others  say,  on  the  contrary, 
that  the  number  of  them  is  very  limited ;  according  to 
him  this  contradiction  proceeds  from  their  want  of 
frankness  when  confessing  this  vice ;  they  reply  warmly 
and  with  impatience  when  the  question  is  put  to  them: 
"/  am  a  prostitute  for  men  and  not  for  women.'" 
Others  whom  we  have  questioned,  add:  "  We  do  it, 
but  it  is  shajtieful.'"  Some  say:  "  The  male,  that  is 
always  lawful.'' 

Moll,  after  what  seems  to  have  been  a  serious  study, 
concludes  that  in  Berlin  the  number  of  tribads  amounts 
to  25  per  cent  of  all  the  prostitutes. 

Prostitutes  in  general  maintain  a  certain  reserve  on  that 
subject;  in  their  quarrels  they  insult  each  other  in  the 
grossest  language,  but  they  never  make  any  allusion  to 
this  vice,  even  when  they  are  certain  that  it  is  practised. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  265 

According  to  Parent-Duchatelet,  it  is  towards  the 
age  of  from  25  to  30  that  prostitutes  give  themselves 
up  to  this  vice,  after  they  have  exercised  their  trade 
during  eight  or  ten  years,  unless  they  have  been  in 
prison. 

If  there  are  any  young  ones  and  novices  among 
them,  it  is  that  they  are  the  victims  of  others  who 
have  seduced  them. 

Parent-Duchatelet  also  very  justly  calls  attention,  as 
a  remarkable  phenomenon,  to  the  remarkable  dispro- 
portion of  age  and  beauty  between  two  women  who 
unite  in  such  manner;  and  what  is  still  more  surprising, 
is,  that  once  the  intimacy  established,  it  is  generally  the 
younger  and  the  handsomer  of  the  two  who  feels  towards 
the  other  the  most  passionate  and  tenacious  love. 

"I  have  been  informed  by  many  inspectors  and  by 
several  overseers  of  prisons  that  pregnancy  is  more 
frequent  among  tribads  than  among  the  prostitutes. 
This  is  comprehensible  and  can  be  to  a  certain  extent 
explained.  The  same  observers  have  remarked  that 
in  such  cases,  the  state  of  pregnancy  becomes  the  sub- 
ject of  jokes  and  of  quarrels  in  the  prison,  and  there 
is  not  that  pity,  those  attentions  and  care  that  female 
prisoners  usually  display  towards  their  unfortunate 
companions  who  may  be  in  that  condition."  (Parent- 
Duchatelet). 

The  habits  of  these  tribads  differ,  it  appears,  according 
to  the  country  to  which  they  belong. 

Among  the  tribadic  couples  in  Berlin,  living  in 
concubinage,  says  Moll,  *  there  is  always  at  least  one 
who  is  a  prostitute:  the  active  and  passive  roles  are 
always  distinct.  The  first,  or  the  more  active,  belongs 
to  that  which  they  call  the  papa  or  the  uncle,  to  whom, 

'  Moll,  Les  inversions  sexuelles,  Paris,    1893. 


266  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

as  in  marriage,  great  freedom  is  permitted  in  her  con- 
nection with  men;  these  are  mostly  prostitutes. 

The  passive  role  is  called  mamma  and  woe  betide 
her  if  she  is  unfaithful. 

Some  women  become  tribads  all  at  once;  but  they 
admit,  that  from  their  infancy  they  were  passionately 
fond  of  masculine  games,  liked  to  dress  in  manly  attire, 
to  dance  with  women,  to  smoke  strong  cigars,  to  get 
tipsy,  to  ride  on  horseback,  to  fight;  others  began  to 
smoke  at  5  years  of  age.  were  fond  of  male  occupa- 
tions and  had  a  repugnance  for  needle-work;  never- 
theless they  never  assume  a  masculine  air  but  when 
they  know  that  they  are  not  observed.  They  can 
recognise  each  other,  it  appears,  by  certain  signs  made 
with  the  eyes  or  the  mouth;  in  general  they  sympa- 
thise only  with  one  particular  category,  either  for  fair 
women  or  for  dark,  and  they  never  change. 

The  Parisian  tribads  ^  often  prefer  to  pawn  their  jewelry 
and  their  clothing  rather  than  be  unfaithful  to  each 
other:  there  is  a  distinctive  sign  which  makes  them 
recognisable :  they  usually  wear  exactly  similar  toilets ; 
they  have  the  same  jewels,  and  call  each  other  sisters. 
.  And  in  fact  the  expression  "■  petites  sceurs""  (little 
'^  sisters),  in  balls,  cafes,  on  the  Boulevards,  and  in  the 
public  gardens,  has  become  synonymous  of  tribad. 

Many  of  them  remain  faithful  during  many  years; 
there  were  some  who  remained  so  for  17  years;  but 
the  majority  of  them  change  from  month  to  month 
and  even  from  one  day  to  the  other. 

Tribads  are  not  Sapphics.  But  it  seems  ^  that  a 
distinction    must   be   drawn    here    between   the  tribads 

'  Martineau,   Sur  les  deformations  vulvaires . 

*  Moraglia,  Archivio  di  Psichiatria  et  Anthrop.  criminale,  vol.  XVI,  V. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  267 

properly  so-called  and  the  Sapphics  or  Lesbians  (Cun- 
nilingues).  The  tribads  have  mostly  a  masculine  gait, 
and  aspect  with  virile  passions,  a  taste  for  sport,  for 
cigars  and  for  manly  attire.  And,  from  their  earliest 
age,  they  loved  only  for  women:  they  did  not  fall 
into  vice  excited  by  others,  but  were  born  vicious  as 
others  are  born-criminals ;  they  have  always  a  genuine 
repugnance  for  the  male  and  all  of  them  disdain  mar- 
riage. 

The  Sapphists,  on  the  contrary,  are  either  led  to 
Lesbian  love,  particularly  by  difficulties  met  with  in 
love  with  men,  or  have  been  led  astray  by  depraved 
companions.  They  have  no  virile  character ;  they  have 
no  aversion  to  man,  with  whom  they  can  repeat  their 
Lesbian  practice  without  repugnance. 

The  loves  of  Sapphists  do  not  last  nearly  so  long  as 
those  of  tribads,  except  in  colleges,  and  they  provoke 
far  fewer  jealousies.  Their  epistolary  correspondence 
is  also  very  rare  and  never  sentimental. 

There  is  not  here,  as  with  tribads,  one  woman  who 
imposes  herself  upon  another,  but  two  who  agree 
together  for  some  time,  ready  to  separate  without  ill- 
feeling. 

Among  them,  it  is  said,  only  one  anomaly  is  ob- 
servable: the  gland  of  the  prepuce  in  the  form  of  a 
club  and  hypertrophy  of  the  prepuce  in  the  form  of 
a  hood:  which  is  the  effect  of  the  exercise  and  of 
the  abuse;  they  are  therefore  vicious  by  occasion. 

The  Courtesans  of  Greece.  The  same  customs 
existed  in  ancient  times.  The  auletridcc  of  the  Greeks 
had  also  frequent  and  intimate  intercourse  among  each 
other.  In  the  dicterions,  among  the  imprisoned  hetserse 
this  paradoxal  love  reigned  with  great  intensity. 


268  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

A  tribad  courtesan  was  careful  to  hide  this  vice 
which  met  with  more  indulgence  from  her  companions 
than  from  men. 

The  entire  life  of  these  tribads  was  an  assiduous 
study  of  beauty;  from  the  continuous  contemplation 
of  their  own  nakedness  and  the  comparing  of  it  with 
that  of  their  companions,  they  created  ardent  pleasures 
to  themselves  without  the  aid  of  their  lovers,  who  often 
left  them  cold  and  insensible  (Lucian).  The  passions, 
which  were  thus  inflamed  between  the  auletridcr,  were 
violent  and  implacable.  In  the  dialogues  of  Lucian, 
we  see  the  beautiful  Charmide  complaining  that  her 
friend  Philemation,  old  and  painted,  whom  she  has 
loved  for  seven  years  and  has  overwhelmed  with 
presents,  has  abandoned  her  for  a  man.  Charmide, 
in  order  to  forget  this  love  which  consumes  her,  tries 
to  get  another  friend;  she  gives  five  drachmas  to 
Triphena  to  share  her  bed,  after  a  banquet  at  which 
she  has  not  tasted  a  dish  nor  emptied  a  single  cup; 
but  hardly  has  Triphena  laid  herself  down  at  her  side 
than  she  thrusts  her  from  her,  seeming  to  avoid  the 
contact  of  her  friend. 

Lucian,  in  his  Dialogues  of  Courtesa^'"^,  tells  us  that 
one  woman  could  at  one  and  the  same  time  carry  on 
two  heterogeneous  affections  and  be  passionately  in 
love  with  a  man  and  with  a  woman. 

Lombroso  on  the  Causes  of  this  Vice.  Parent- 
Duchatelet,  who  is  not  always  so  happy  in  his  ex- 
phcations  as  he  is  precise  and  exact  in  the  information 
he  gives,  explains  tribadism  by  the  forced  privation 
of  man  and  by  promiscuous  residence  in  prison  or  in 
brothels;  but  he  has  not  thought  of  the  invasion  of 
this  vice  into  the  higher  ranks  of  society,  which  have 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  269 

no  connection  with  prisons  or  with  the  life  in  houses 
of  prostitution  ;  in  order  to  prove  this,  as  Sighele  remarks, 
one  has  but  to  refer  to  the  large  number  of  novels  in 
which  allusion  is  made  to  it. 

Amongst  such  works  we  may  call  to  mind  the  fol- 
lowing ;  some  of  them  have  been  written  by  men  of 
genius,  and  all  by  writers  of  great  talent.  This  fact 
in  itself  is  significant  of  the  condition  of  "Society." 

Diderot,  La  Religieusey  the  romance  of  a  devotee 
of  Lesbian  love ;  Balzac,  La  Fille  aux  yeux  d'or, 
Lesbian  love;  Theophile  Gautier,  Mademoiselle  de 
Maupiii ;  Feydeau,  La  Co?ntesse  de  C halts ;  Flau- 
bert, Salamnibd ;  Belot,  Mademoiselle  Giraud  ma 
femmc.  In  German  literature  Krafft-Ebing  cites 
the  novels  of  WiLBRAND:  Fridolin's  heifnliche  Ehe  ; 
of  Emerich  Count  Stadion,  Brick  und  Brack,  oder 
LJchl  in  Schatten,  and  of  Sacher-Masoch,  Venus 
im  Pelz.  Zola  also  alludes  to  tribadism  in  Nana  and 
in  La  Cure'e,  and  quite  recently  in  Italy,  BuTTl,  in 
his  novel  L Automna. 

"There  are  in  Paris,"  writes  Leo  Taxil,  "in  high 
society,  genuine  Lesbian  assemblies,  groups  of  women 
residing  in  fashionable  quarters,  who  take  the  title  of 
Lesbians,  and  rob  and  covet  each  the  pathic  victims 
that  are  supplied  to  them  by  special  procuresses.  ^ 

"  They  also  are  Lesbian,"  adds  Leo  Taxil,  "  these  Kell- 
nerinnen  who  are  to  be  seen  together  in  the  Paris 
beer-houses,  wearing  exactly  similar  clothing,  whom 
the  students  call  little  sisters ;  these  actresses  who  live 
together,  these  married  women  of  40  years  of  age, 
for  whom  a  young  and  attentive  friend  quits  every- 
thing and  never  leaves  them  for  a  moment.  They 
are  always  accompanied  by  a  little  dog  adorned  with 

*  Corruption  fin-de-siecle. 


270  UxNTTRODDKN    FIELDS   OF 

ribbons,  etc. ;  they  may  also  be  recognised  by  their 
habit  of  protruding  their  tongue ;  I  have  distinguished 
some  by  a  continual  convulsive  contraction  of  the 
hands,  by  the  more  masculine  attitude  and  dress  of 
one  of  the  two." 

The  causes  are  here  of  various  nature: — 

Natural  Wantonness.  The  first  is  the  excessive 
lasciviousness  of  some  of  them,  which  the  endeavour 
to  satisfy  by  every  means,  even  by  the  least  natural. 
In  this  way  we  see  one  of  them  giving  herself  up  to 
women  after  having  used  and  made  abuse  of  men ; 
and  who  does  not  remember  the  words  of  Catherine 
II,  who  had  also  become  a  tribad :  "  Why  has  nature 
not  given  us  a  sixth  sense  ?  " 

The  same  thing  is  noticed  in  men,  and  Caylus,  the 
prototype  of  Urnings,  admitted  having  made  abuse  of 
women  until  the  age  of  33  years;  and  as  born-criminals 
are  more  lascivious,  the  observation  of  Parent-Duchatelet 
becomes  better  comprehensible,  that  the  most  depraved 
tribads  and  the  most  inclined  to  deprave  the  others, 
had  all  of  them  remained  during  several  years  in 
prison. 

Environment  as  a  Factor.  The  second  cause  is 
the  influence  of  the  place  of  habitation  ;  some  of  us 
have  verified,  that  in  prison,  some  of  these,  unable  to 
satisfy  their  desires  with  men,  turned  to  women  and 
became  a  centre  of  corruption,  that  spread  even  to 
the  religious  sisters  on  service.  It  is  for  this  reason 
that  although  female  prisoners  are  often  criminaloids 
but  little  inclined  to  erotism,  they  often  become  tribads 
under  the  influence  of  the  very  lascivious  born-criminals. 

Parent-Duchatelet    observes    that   the    prison    is   the 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  271 

great  school  of  tribadism,  and  that  the  most  resisting 
of  prisoners  finally  gives  way  to  the  vice,  if  she  has 
to  remain  there  from  1 8  to  20  months.  Oldes  remarks 
that  if  several  women  are  assembled  together  in  a 
prison,  their  erotic  indecency,  even  when  they  are 
closely  watched,  increases  in  cubic  ratio;  and  when 
they  are  locked  up  together,  scenes  take  place  which 
far  surpass  the  compass  of  any  imagination  (Liszt, 
Archiv.   1891). 

In  this  manner  they  come  near  to  animals,  which, 
when  they  are  unable  to  satisfy  their  sexual  wants 
on  members  of  their  species  of  the  opposite  sex,  make 
attempts  upon  those  of  their  own. 

The  same  fact  has  been  observed  in  asylums,  where 
the  entrance  of  one  tribad  is  sufficient  to  contaminate 
the  entire  establishment,  where  no  tendency  of  the 
kind  had  previously  existed.  (Lombroso,  Le  Tribadisme 
dans  les  Asiles). 

Secret  Clubs  of  Vice.  As  a  third  cause  we  may 
name  the  assembling  together  of  a  number  of  women, 
particularly  if  among  them  there  be  prostitutes  and 
lascivious  creatures.  This  assembling  provokes,  by  a 
sort  of  immoral  ferment  introduced  into  the  community, 
and  by  the  multiplication  of  the  vices  of  each  of  its 
members,  the  formation  of  a  more  energetic  collective 
vice.  Besides,  the  prostitutes  are  often  naked  or  half 
naked,  living  together  in  almost  continual  contact, 
sleeping  two  and  sometimes  three  in  one  bed.  In  the 
higher  classes  the  same  thing  is  found  in  colleges,  in 
the  orgies  of  the  carnival  and  also  in  some  convents. 

Let  us  call  to  mind  the  scenes  described  by  Juvenal : 
"When,  summoned  to  the  dance  by  the  sound  of  the 
flute,  excited  by  music  and  by  libations,  the  priestesses 


272  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

of  Bacchus  loosen  their  long  tresses,  exhaling  passionate 
sighs,  then  to  what  ardour  are  they  not  the  prey, 
impelling  them  to  join  one  with  the  other!  What 
accents  does  not  passion  and  the  phrenzy  of  the  dance 
impress  upon  their  voices !  Nought  any  longer  stops 
the  divine  torrent  which  they  let  flow  down  their 
thighs.  Then  Lasella  provokes  and  defies  them  to 
wrestle  for  the  crown,  the  prize  which  she  carries  off 
with  more  lascivious  motions,  from  the  most  depraved 
of  prostitutes :  and  yet  she  cannot  but  admire  JMe- 
duUina  and  her  lascivious  gests.  Both  of  these  great 
dames  have  an  equal  glory.  Nothing  is  simulated  in 
their  play,  so  much  so  that,  a  son  of  Sparta,  insensible 
and  frozen  from  his  birth,  and  the  venerable  Nestor, 
could    not   support  the  sight  without  being  inflamed." 

Similar  collective  orgies  take  place  in  certain  houses 
of  prostitution  in  Paris,  with  participation  of  ladies  of 
fashion  (Fiaux,  Les  viaisons  de  tolerance,  1892);  which 
reminds  us  of  the  pederastic  orgies  of  men  assembled 
together,  which  gave  occasion  to  the  prosecutions  at 
Padua,  of  Pavia,  etc.  The  forbidden  fruit  seems  only 
to  be  enjoyable  to  the  degenerate  when  accompanied 
by  the  noisiest  and  most  scandalous  complicity. 

Fiaux  gives  other  reasons,  hitherto  ignored,  for  the 
influence  of  the  houses  of  prostitution  on  tribadism ; 
this  is  that  the  mistresses  of  these  establishments  favour 
it  in  order  to  have  greater  tranquillity  in  the  house, 
to  drive  away  from  it  fancy-men  who  are  always 
prejudicial  to  them,  for,  as  they  say  :  "  When  our  women 
have  a  lover,  they  go  away  on  their  out-days  and  spend 
outside  the  money  they  have  gained;  whereas,  on 
the  contrary,  the  tribads  shut  themselves  up  in  their 
room  and  treat  each  other  to  dainties  and  liqueurs 
which  are  sold  to  them  in  the  establishment." 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  273 

Sometimes  they  visit  the  hospitals  where  they  go 
to  recruit  and  establish  the  preliminaries  of  these  unions. 
Sometimes  the  mistresses  of  these  houses  are  them- 
selves sapphic ;  they  dress  and  treat  their  pathics  with 
much  attention  and  care,  or  else  suddenly  act  with 
such  violence  towards  them  as  to  oblige  them  to  have 
recourse  to  the  police. 

More  often  again,  they  continue  this  infamous 
traffic  for  another  sorry  purpose:  to  make  it  the  sub- 
ject of  poses  plasiiques,  in  which  scenes  of  orgies 
there  figured,  to  render  the  tableaux  more  exciting, 
the  little  dogs  of  these  dames,  sights  which  brought 
them  in  large  profits.  Lastly,  as  we  have  already 
said,  it  enabled  them  to  supply  a  higher  range  of 
society  with  the  pathics  required  by  noble  dames. 

Carlier  relates  that  there  exist  in  Paris  four  or  five 
houses  of  prostitution  where  women  of  the  upper  ten 
and  of  the  demi-monde  meet  to  abandon  themselves  to 
collective  orgies  and  to  sapphism.  It  may  be  here 
remarked  that  prostitutes,  so  inclined  to  reciprocal 
sapphism,  are  far  less  so  towards  outside  lady  visitors, 
unless  they  are  obliged  to  do  so  by  special  agreement 
mentioned  in  their  contracts  and  remunerated  at  sti- 
pulated price. 

In  the  houses  of  prostitution  the  women  also  make 
bets,  and  have  competitions  and  examens  on  their  own 
secret  beauties,  which  naturally  excite  to  tribadism. 
It  often  happens  that  young  girls,  who  are  not  born- 
sapphists,  first  of  all  resist  and  manifest  a  certain  aver- 
sion to  this  vice;  but  the  greater  number  succumb 
when  tipsy  and  get  gradually  accustomed  to  it  and 
become  occasional  sapphists. 

There  exists,  according  to  Fiaux,  a  curious  rite  in 
connection    with    these   strange  nuptials.     The  woman 


274  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS   OF 

who  seduces  her  companion,  the  papa  we  may  say, 
purchases  a  bottle  of  champagne  and  places  it  before  her 
sweetheart  at  their  first  dinner  together.  All  the  others 
then  know  of  the  new  marriage  and  each  one  is  bound 
to  respect  it.  "In  private  life,"  says  Martineau,  "the 
brasseries  (beer-cafes)  serve  to  bring  about  these  unions ; 
and  one  can  often  see  in  these  establishments  two  bar- 
maids who  live  together.  They  manage  to  suffice  for 
their  household  expenses  with  the  gratuities  they  obtain 
from  their  customers;  they  avoid  as  much  as  possible 
all  sexual  contact  with  man,  and  when  want  of  money 
forces  one  of  them  to  do  so,  it  is  always  as  much  as 
possible  unbeknown  to  the  other." 

Advanced  Age,  another  Cause.  Maturity  and 
age,  in  changing  the  character  of  the  female  sex,  also 
favours  sexual  inversion  in  women. 

Natural  history  also  shows  us  that  this  tendency  to 
the  sexual  habits  of  the  male  may  also  be  noticed  in 
the  females  of  animals  when  they  grow  old.  As 
Parent-Duchatelet  observes,  almost  all  tribads  are  past 
middle-age.  The  princess  R***  who  wrote  a  letter  to 
a  chere  amie  couched  in  terms  of  the  most  violent 
Lesbian  love,  became  a  tribad  at  the  age  of  sixty, 
after  having  led  an  excessively  gay  life  with  men  in 
her  youth;  this  is  to  some  extent  comprehensible,  for 
old  age  is  in  fact  a  sort  of  degeneracy.  It  is  true 
that  sapphism  is  also  to  be  met  with  in  quite  young 
girls,  but  only  if  they  live  in  houses  of  prostitution 
or  in  girls'  colleges,  where,  according  to  Zola,  they 
are  influenced  and  even  compelled  by  their  companions. 

Disgust  born  of  Excess  may  be  regarded  as  a  fifth 
cause   of  this   unnatural    practice.     Among  prostitutes 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  27S 

and  also  among  some  gay  women,  there  is  to  be 
added  the  apathy  and  disgust  caused  by  the  too  fre- 
quent use  of  the  male;  when  the  sexual  passion  is 
ardent,  and  fails  to  meet  with  satisfaction  from  the 
male,  it  takes  another  direction.  It  is  known  that 
fishermen  object  to  eat  fish.  Martineau  says:  "Some 
of  these  tribads  are  driven  to  it  by  hatred  of  the  bully 
who  maltreats  them;  by  disgust  of  the  long  file  of 
males  they  have  been  obliged  to  satisfy,  of  whom 
they  are  satiated  even  to  nausea."  Illusions  con- 
tinually destroyed,  even  in  the  genuine  love  they  may 
bear  to  their  lovers,  also  contribute  to  it ;  impassioned 
and  inconstant,  they  are  continually  subject  to  the  ill- 
treatment  of  men,  they  then  turn  to  women  whom  they 
trust  will  be  more  faithful  and  who  to  a  certainty  wiU 
be  more  gentle.  Thus  it  was  that  Nana  abandoned 
herself  to  women  from  disgnst  of  men  and  of  unclean 
amours,  and  after  having  been  deserted  by  her  fickle 
amants  de  cceur. 

Fiaux  relates  that  a  poor  girl,  to  explain  the  love 
she  entertained  for  a  bully,  said,  with  wonderful  truth: 
'^  If  I  have  nothing  to  love,  I  am  nothing. "  It  is  this 
longing  to  love  a  stronger  being,  or  merely  for  a  love 
that  is  not  mercenary,  that  is  at  the  bottom  of  all 
these  loves  for  bullies  or  fancy-men,  even  in  those  big 
brothels  where  their  presence  is  unnecessary. 

"  One  of  the  reasons  of  sapphism,"  writes  Sighele 
{Copia  criminate,  p.  533),  "  is  no  doubt  the  sexual  per- 
version of  men.  The  sadists  (and  I  gather  under  this 
name  all  the  different  sorts  of  voluptuousness  against 
nature  into  which  masculine  love  has  been  transformed) 
exact  from  prostitutes  the  most  repugnant  acts,  and 
finally  tire  and  disgust  them.  These  women,  who  have 
almost    abdicated    their   sex,    can  only  feel  disgust  for 


276  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS   OF 

such  men,  who  are  almost  no  longer  males.  Thence 
is  born — as  a  logical  and  natural  sequence — sapphism. 
To  escape  from  one  infamy,  the  prostitutes  cast  them- 
selves into  another." 

But  that  is  not  limited  to  prostitutes. 

Congenital  Tendency.  Krafft-Ebing  informs  us 
that  a  certain  girl,  aged  29  years,  had  an  alcoholic 
father,  who  committed  suicide ;  her  brothers  and  sisters 
were  also  alcoholic  or  hysteric,  and  her  maternal  uncle 
was  a  madman.  She  was  menstruated  at  18  years; 
but  already  at  the  age  of  14  she  had  chlorosis  and 
later  on  serious  hysteria;  at  the  age  of  18  she  had 
sexual  intercourse  with  a  young  man  with  whom  she 
had  fallen  in  love,  and  a  little  later  on  she  masturbated 
herself  in  remembrance  of  him.  In  order  to  continue 
her  romance  with  him,  she  dressed  in  male  attire, 
became  steward  in  a  noble  household,  and  on  this 
occasion  made  her  mistress  fall  in  love  with  her;  she 
afterwards  became  an  employee  in  a  shop,  and  must 
with  her  comrades  have  frequented  houses  of  prosti- 
tution ;  she  was  then  disgusted,  and  resumed  female 
dress.  She  was  sent  to  prison  for  theft,  but  being 
found  to  be  hysterical  she  was  sent  to  a  hospital, 
where  she  fell  violently  in  love  with  the  female  attend- 
ants. The  medical  officers  pretended  that  this  tendency 
was  congenital,  but  she  protested :  "  I  feel  as  a  woman  ; 
but  the  companionship  of  my  male  colleagues  has  dis- 
gusted me  with  men,  and  as  I  have  an  ardent  nature, 
and  feel  the  want  of  attaching  myself  to  some  one, 
little  by  little  I  felt  myself  impelled  to  bind  myself 
to  women  and  young  girls  with  whom  I  can  better 
agree. " 

It  would  seem  that  we  have  here  a  latent  and  feeble 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  277 

congenital  cause,  upon  which  has  been  grafted  an 
accidental  cause  precisely  as  is  the  case  in  the  offences 
of  criminaloids.  (See  Lombroso,  L  Homme  crim.inel, 
vol.  II,   1895). 

"Another  cause  of  tribadism — which  joins  to,  and 
becomes  confounded  with,  the  first — is,"  says  Sighele, 
"  the  absence  in  rich  houses  of  prostitution,  of  the  bully 
or  fancy-man.  The  prostitute  longs  for  a  more  lasting, 
less  ephemeral  affection  than  what  her  trade  procures 
her  every  day;  unable  to  find  it  in  men,  she  seeks 
for  it  in  one  of  her  companions.  They  five  together, 
and  the  very  intimacy  of  their  obscenities,  paves  the 
slope  down  which  they  glide,  without  perceiving  it, 
into  Lesbian  love. 

"  From  the  luxurious  lupanars,  sapphism  has  spread  to 
other  centres,  if  not  less  depraved,  certainly  less  boldly 
vulgar. 

"  Sometimes  a  kept-woman  of  high  degree,  a  courtesan 
of  upper  rank,  has  heard  her  friends  speak  of  such 
turpitudes ;  after  supper,  she  has  had  the  curiosity  to 
see  it,  and  finally  she  has  wanted  to  make  the  expe- 
riment. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  some  young  girl  in  rich  houses 
of  prostitution,  who  has  managed  easily  to  meet  with 
an  enthusiastic  lover  who  takes  her  away  to  live  with 
him,  then  communicates  her  infamous  habits  to  other 
women  whose  acquaintance  she  makes.  In  this  manner 
tribadism  has  become  a  very  frequent  exception  even 
among  married  women.  Leo  Taxil  says  that  'the  number 
of  lady  tribads  in  Paris  is  incalculable.'  " 

The  Criminality  of  Husbands.     There  is  another 

cause  for  tribadism  for  which  man  is  wholly  responsible. 

Martineau   knew    married   men,    men  living  in  con- 


278  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF 

cubinage  or  having  a  passing  liaison  of  only  a  few 
hours,  who,  in  order  to  excite  genesic  ardours  that 
have  become  more  or  less  extinct,  endeavour  to  awaken 
in  the  woman  powerfully  voluptuous  sensations.  To 
obtain  this  result,  they  do  not  hesitate  to  resort  to 
mercenaries.  They  may  even  be  seen  after  a  gay 
supper,  to  take  their  female  companion  to  some  special 
establishment,  to  be  subjected  to  sapphism  so  as  to 
develop  in  her,  who  generally  was  ignorant  of  the  act, 
a  genesic  passion  which  she  will  be  all  the  more 
inclined  to  satisfy,  that  she  has  experienced  more 
voluptuous  sensations.  But  from  that  moment  the 
woman  will  ardently  seek  for  sapphism,  accepts  coition 
but  with  repugnance  and  at  once  takes  rank  among 
the  professional  or  occasional  tribads. 

The  Military  Post  at  Bourail.  The  convent  is 
situated  on  the  side  of  a  little  hill,  some  170  feet  high, 
on  the  summit  of  which  is  a  guard-house  occupied  by 
a  post  of  Marines.  The  palisades  of  the  guard-house 
overlook  the  walls  of  the  convent,  and  are  almost 
within  speaking  distance.  The  women  keep  all  the 
soldiers  in  a  quiver  of  excitement.  In  spite  of  the 
sharpest  look-out,  and  a  punishment  of  thirty  days  in 
prison  from  the  officer  commanding,  entire  squads  of 
the  men  sleep  out  every  night,  and  scale  the  walls  of 
the  convent.  The  women  drop  ropes  down,  if  the 
soldiers  have  no  ladders.  The  janitress,  who  has  the 
key  of  the  great  door  in  her  pocket,  and  the  poor  nuns 
sleeping  in  their  little  cells,  are  far  from  suspecting 
what  scenes  of  lust  go  on  in  all  corners  of  the  convent. 
But  no  notice  was  taken  of  this.  The  conduct  of  the 
soldiers  was  so  well  known,  that,  whereas,  in  the  other 
posts   in   the   Colony,  the  men  are  only  relieved  once 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  279 

a  year,  the  garrison  of  Bourail  is  relieved  every  three 
months.  Generally,  the  soldiers,  when  they  get  back 
to  Noumea,  have  to  do  a  month's  prison,  for  being 
absent  at  night  without  leave. 

The  General's  Cap.  One  day,  a  General,  who  had 
been  inspecting  the  troops,  came  dowfi  from  the  guard- 
house after  the  review.  The  damsels  were  all  at  the 
windows  of  the  dormitory,  to  watch  the  proceedings. 
As  the  General  passed  under  the  walls  of  the  convent, 
one  of  the  inmates  cried,  "  I  say !  You  may  have  a 
fine  gold  cap,  but  you  haven't  got  such  a  good  head 
to  put  under  it  as  my  little  trumpeter."  The  General 
had  the  good  sense  to  laugh. 

**  Je    m'emmerde,    and   I   want   a    Man ".      A 

Governor  of  the  Colony,  during  one  of  his  rounds, 
visited  the  convent  at  Bourail.  After  having  "  reviewed" 
all  the  inmates,  who  did  their  best  to  maintain  a 
dignified  and  respectful  attitude,  he  stopped  in  front  of 
a  pretty  young  blonde,  who  was  standing  in  a  corner 
of  the  room,  her  eyes  modestly  cast  down,  and  with  a 
sad  and  dreamy  expression  on  her  fair  face.  The 
Governor,  who  was  anxious  to  pose  as  a  paternal 
benefactor,  said  to  the  young  girl,  "  Well,  my  child,  are 
you  glad  to  be  so  well  cared  for  by  these  good  Sisters? 
Is  there  anything  you  want  ?  "  The  reply  was  forcible, 
and  even  more  complete  than  that  of  Zola's  La  Satin 
in  "Nana"  :  "I?  Je  m'emmerde,  and  I  want  a  man!  " 
The  Governor  turned  on  his  heel,  and  walked  away 
without  saying  another  word. 

The  Marriage  of  the  Liberated  Convicts.  When 
permission  to  marry  is  granted,  the  State,  represented 


280  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

on  this  occasion  by  the  Governor  of  the  Reformatory, 
marries  the  well-assorted  couple.  The  convicts,  all 
numbered,  pass  in  front  of  the  immates  of  the  convent, 
who  are  also  ranged  in  order,  and  if  the  male  prisoner, 
No.  3,  takes  a  fancy  to  the  female  prisoner  No.  5,  for 
instance,  they  are  granted  an  interview,  which  takes 
place  through  the  bars  of  the  grating,  and  under  the 
sanctimonious  eye  of  the  good  Sister. 

The  marriage  occurs  soon  afterwards.  The  convict 
has  granted  to  him  a  piece  of  land,  with  a  small  brick 
house  built  on  it,  some  agricultural  implements,  seeds 
for  sowing,  kitchen  utensils,  the  more  indispensable 
articles  of  furniture,  and  for  thirty  months  he  receives 
his  rations  from  Government, — bread,  wine,  meat,  coffee 
and  tafia.  How  many  worthy  peasants  in  France,  who 
have  never  stolen  a  farthing,  would  be  glad  of  such 
treatment!  The  marriage  is  celebrated  at  the  Mairie, 
and  the  Church,  and  the  neighbours  are  invited  to  the 
wedding  feast,  for  there  is  always  a  wedding  breakfast 
and  attendant  rejoicings.  The  State,  however,  does 
not  carry  its  generosity  so  far  as  to  pay  the  expenses. 
The  modest  bride  procures  the  necessary  money.  She 
has  sold,  in  advance,  her  wedding  night  to  some  ad- 
mirer of  patched-up  virtue.  The  price  varies,  accord- 
ing to  the  quality  of  the  chaste  bride.  It  is  usually 
fifty  francs.  At  the  end  of  the  nuptial  repast,  it  is  the 
husband  who  himself  conducts  his  better  half  to  the 
house  of  the  purchaser,  and  the  next  morning  he  comes 
to  fetch  her,  and  lead  her,  happy  and  smiling,  to  the 
legal  domicile.  I  am  inventing  nothing;  what  I  here 
state  is  known  to  everybody  in  New  Caledonia,  except 
the  Government,  which  closes  its  eyes  in  order  to  see 
nothing.  And,  it  is  with  people  of  this  sort,  that  they 
seriously   wish   to   colonise   the   island !      The   convict 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  281 

contents  himself  with  hardly  scratching  the  surface  of 
the  earth,  and  sowing  some  haricots,  maize,  pumpkins, 
and  tobacco,  which  is  very  easy  work.  The  conjugal 
field  is  the  one  he  trusts  in  to  bring  in  the  money. 
The  State  furnishes  the  daily  bread,  and  the  woman 
procures  the  luxuries  they  require.  What  the  domestic 
life  of  such  a  couple  may  be,  can  be  guessed.  Abuse 
and  blows  are  showered  upon  the  wife,  if  she  is  not 
a  successful  bread-winner,  or  if  she  has  a  fancy  for 
putting  any  of  her  lovers  on  the  free  list.  Sometimes, 
the  husband  uses  the  knife ;  and  then  the  military  tri- 
bunal interferes.  In  other  cases,  on  the  contrary,  the 
wife  poisons  her  husband,  or  employs  one  of  her  lovers 
to  settle  him.  The  children,  when  there  are  any — very 
fortunately,  there  are  but  few, — go  to  the  devil  their 
own  way,  as  might  be  expected  of  the  offspring  of 
such  cankered  beings,  the  prime  fruit  of  the  hulks  and 
the  brothel! 

Sodomy  and  Pederasty  amongst  the  Convicts. 

We  shall  not  be  astonished  to  find  amongst  the  con- 
victs, both  men  and  women,  the  vices  of  Sodom  and 
Gomorrha  flourishing  vigorously.  In  the  Reformatory, 
the  convicts  freely  practise  pederasty,  and  the  liberated 
ones  add  thereto  sodomy  with  their  wives.  A  man  is 
not  usually  condemned  to  hard  labour  for  mere  pecca- 
dillos, and  the  moral  sense  is  almost  extinct  when  they 
come  to  the  Reformatory.  Whether  you  call  the  con- 
demned criminal  a  convict,  or  a  transported  prisoner; 
— whether  he  is  dressed,  as  formerly  in  the  hulks,  in 
yellow  trousers,  a  red  coat  and  a  green  cap;  or,  as  at 
present,  in  a  very  clean  costume  of  white  linen,  with 
a  neat  straw  hat,  you  do  not  change  his  nature.  By 
the  sole  fact  of  living  together,  the  bad  become  worse. 


282  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

and  spoil  those  who  are  not  yet  completely  corrupt. 
Put  some  damaged  fruit  into  a  basket  with  sound 
fruit,  and  it  will  make  the  good  go  bad ;  a  fortiori 
when  you  put  rotten  fruit  with  fruit  that  is  already 
damaged.  The  violent  scoundrels,  those  of  the  redoubt- 
able fifth  category,  use  the  knife,  and  end  on  the  guil- 
lotine. The  weak,  and  the  cowards,  are  also  hypocrites, 
that  they  may  obtain  the  privileges  reserved  for  the 
first-class,  but,  at  bottom,  they  are  not  a  bit  better 
than  the  others.  Crimes  and  assassinations  are  frequent 
amongst  this  evil  crew.  They  have  taught  the  Kanakas 
the  use  of  certain  poisonous  solanacese,  the  effect  of 
which  is  deadly,  and  which  grow  freely  throughout 
all  the  Colony. 

Prisons  as  Breeder  of  Vice.  I  see  that  my  opinion 
as  to  the  life  spent  by  the  convict  in  prison  being  a 
prolific  breeder  of  unnatural  vice  is  shared  by  Mr. 
Havelock  Ellis,  an  English  scientist  who  has  had  the 
courage  to  deal  with  this  unpleasant  subject.  In  his 
last  work,  Sexual  Inversion,  Studies  in  the  Psychology 
of  Sex,  he  quotes  with  approval  the  observations  of 
my  Italian  confrere,  Dr.  Venturi.  I  reproduce  the 
whole  passage:  — 

"  In  a  Spanish  prison,  not  many  years  ago,  when  a 
new  governor  endeavoured  to  reform  the  homosexual 
manners  of  the  women,  the  latter  made  his  post  so 
uncomfortable  that  he  was  compelled  to  resign.  Sallilas, 
Vida  Penal  en  Espana,  asserts  that  all  the  evidence 
shows  the  extraordinary  expansion  of  Lesbian  love  in 
prisons.  The  mujeres  homhrunas  receive  masculine 
names — Pepe,  Chulo,  Bernardo,  Valiente;  new-comers 
are  surrounded  in  the  courtyard  by  a  crowd  of  lasci- 
vious   women,    who    overwhelm    them    with    honeyed 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  283 

compliments  and  gallantries  and  promises  of  protection, 
the  most  robust  virago  having  most  successes ;  a  single 
day  and  night  complete  the  initiation.  The  frequency 
of  sexual  manifestations  in  insane  women  is  well 
recognised.  With  reference  to  homosexual  manifes- 
tations, I  will  merely  quote  the  experience  of  Dr. 
Venturi  in  Italy :  '  In  the  asylums  which  I  have 
directed  I  have  found  inverted  tendencies  even  more 
common  than  have  other  observers ;  and  the  vice  is  not 
peculiar  to  any  disease  or  age,  for  nearly  aU  insane 
women,  except  in  acute  forms  of  insanity,  are  subject 
to  it.  Tribadism  must  thus  be  regarded  as  without 
doubt  a  real  equivalent  and  substitute  for  coitus,  as 
these  persons  frankly  regard  it,  in  this  unlike  pederasty 
which  does  not  satisfy  in  insane  men  the  normal  sexual 
desires."'  (Venturi,  Le  Degenerazione  psichosessuale, 
1892,  p.   148.) 

Mr.  Ellis  says  (page  82)  that  "  with  girls,  as  with 
boys,  it  is  in  the  school,  at  the  evolution  of  puberty, 
that  homosexuality  first  shows  itself,"  and  is  later 
developed  in  the  workshop,  amongst  servants  at  hotels 
or  actresses  in  the  theatre.  "I  quote,"  he  says,  *' the 
following  from  a  private  letter  written  on  the  Con- 
tinent: 'An  English  resident  has  told  me  that  his 
wife  has  lately  had  to  send  away  her  parlourmaid  (a 
pretty  girl),  because  she  was  always  taking  in  strange 
women  to  sleep  with  her.  I  asked  if  she  had  been 
taken  from  hotel  service  and  found,  as  I  expected, 
that  she  had.  But  neither  my  friend  nor  his  wife 
suspected  the  real  cause  of  these  nocturnal  visits.' 

"  At  Wolverhampton,  some  years  ago,  the  case  was 
reported  of  a  woman  in  a  galvanising  '  store ',  who 
after  dinner  indecently  assaulted  a  girl  who  was  a  new 
hand.     Two  young  women  held  the  victim  down  and 


284  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

this   seems   to   show   that   homosexual   vice   was   here 
common  and  recognised." 

The  Universality  of  the  Vice.     From  very  early 
times,    and  in  lands  widely  removed  from  each  other, 
this  strange  and  unnatural  practice  has  prevailed.     Sir 
Rich.  Burton  has  dwelt,  in  his  final  essay  to  the  tenth 
vol.    of  the   "  Nights " ,  on    the    ethnography   of  homo- 
sexuality ;   but  few  cases  have  been  handed  down  with 
so   much   fidelity    as   to  detail  as  the  following.     This 
is    the    case    of   Catherina   Margaretha    Lincken,   who 
married   another   woman,    somewhat   after  the  manner 
of  the    Hungarian    Countess  V.,  in  our  own  day,  i.e.^ 
with   the    aid    of  an    artificial   male   organ.     She    was 
condemned  to  death  for  sodomy,  and  executed  in  1 7  2 1 , 
at   the   age   of   27    (F.    C.    Miiller,  "^  Ein  weiterer  Fall 
von  contrdrer  Sexualemp^ndung"  Friedrich's  Blatter, 
Heft  IV,    1891).     This  was  in  Germany,  and  it  is  some- 
what  remarkable   that   even    at  a  much  earlier  period 
such    an    instrument    appears    to    have    been    used  by 
German    women,    for    in   the    twelfth   century    Bishop 
Burchardt    of   Worms    speaks   of  its   use    as   a    thing 
"  which  some  women  are  accustomed  to  do."     I  have 
found  a  notice  of  a  similar  case  in  France,  during  the 
sixteenth   century,  in  Montaigne's  Journal  du    Voyage 
en    Italie   en   1^80    (written   by  his  secretary) ;  it  took 
place    near    Vitry    le    Frangais.     Seven   or   eight    girls 
belonging  to  Chaumont,  we  are  told,  resolved  to  dress 
and   to    work  as  men;  one  of  these  came  to  Vitry  to 
work   as   a    weaver,    and    was  looked  upon  as  a  well- 
conditioned   young   man,    and.  liked  by  everyone.     At 
Vitry    she    became    betrothed    to    a    woman,    but,    a 
quarrel   arising,    no   marriage  took  place.     Afterwards 
"she    fell    in   love    with   a  woman  whom  she  married, 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  285 

and  with  whom  she  lived  for  four  or  five  months  to 
the  wife's  great  contentment,  it  is  said ;  but  having 
been  recognised  by  some  one  from  Chaumont,  and 
brought  to  justice,  she  was  condemned  to  be  hanged. 
She  said  she  would  even  prefer  this  to  living  again 
as  a  girl,  and  was  hanged  for  using  illicit  inventions 
to  supply  the  defects  of  her  sex."  {Journal,  ed.  by 
D'Ancona,   1889,  p.    11). 

Infamous  Passions.  I  have  said  that  pederasty 
existed  amongst  the  convicts,  a  suitable  ground  in 
which  its  pestilential  growth  could  flourish  freely.  I 
have  said  enough  already  on  this  loathsome  subject, 
apropos  of  the  Annamite  race,  and  do  not  wish  to 
tire  the  reader  with  repugnant  details.  There  are 
certain  subjects  with  which  I  was  obliged  to  deal  in 
the  course  of  this  work,  but  to  which  it  is  useless  to 
revert.  I  will  simply  state  that, — in  analogy  to  what 
goes  on  amongst  the  Chinese  of  Saigon, — there  are 
to  be  found,  amongst  the  transported  convicts  and 
lib^r^s,  couples  united  by  the  bonds  of  an  infamous 
love.  Of  the  two  associates,  the  one  plays  the  passive 
part, — he  is  the  wife;  the  other, — the  husband — plays 
the  active  part.  Rarely  are  the  parts  reversed,  and 
in  this  circumstance  we  see  that  the  pederasty  of  the 
convicts  differs  greatly  from  that  of  the  Annamites 
and  the  Kanakas.  Generally,  in  the  couple,  there  is 
one  old,  and  one  young,  man,  and,  curious  to  say,  it 
is  nearly  always  the  old  man  who  plays  the  woman's 
part.  The  younger  and  more  vigorous  man  is  most 
often  the  husband.     The  rule,  however,  has  exceptions. 

Coffignon,  in  his  ably  written  book,  "  La  Corruption 
a  Paris"  (p.  327),  divides  active  pederasts  into  "  awrt- 
teurs,""   ''  entreteneurs,'"  and   ""  souteneurs.'" 


286  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF 

The  "  amateurs  "  ("  rwettes  ")  are  debauched  persons, 
but  also  frequently  congenitaUy  perverse  sexually,  of 
position  and  fortune,  who  are  forced  to  guard  them- 
selves against  detection  in  the  gratification  of  their 
homesexual  desires.  For  this  purpose  they  visit 
brothels,  lodging-houses,  or  the  private  houses  of  female 
prostitutes,  who  are  generally  on  good  terms  with 
male  prostitutes.     Thus  they  escape  blackmail. 

Some  of  these  "  amateurs "  are  cunning  enough  to 
indulge  their  vile  desires  in  public  places.  They  thus 
run  the  risk  of  arrest,  but,  in  a  large  city,  little  risk 
of  blackmail.  Danger  is  said  to  add  to  their  secret 
pleasure. 

The  "  entreteneurs "  are  old  sinners  who,  even  with 
the  danger  of  falling  into  the  hands  of  blackmailers, 
cannot  deny  themselves  the  pleasure  of  keeping  a 
(male)  mistress. 

The  "  souteneurs "  are  pederasts  that  have  been, 
who  keep  their  "j'esus,"  whom  they  send  out  to  entice 
customers  {''/aire  chanter  les  rivettes  "),  and  who  then, 
at  the  right  moment,  if  possible,  appear  for  the  pur- 
pose of  plucking  the  victim. 

Not  unfrequently  they  live  together  in  bands,  the 
members,  according  to  individual  desire,  living  together 
as  husbands  and  wives.  In  such  bands  there  are 
formal  marriages,  betrothals,  banquets  and  introduc- 
tions of  brides  and  bridegrooms  into  their  apartments. 

These  "  souteneurs  "  attach  their  ""  jesus "  to  them- 
selves. 

The  passive  pederasts  are  "■  petits  Jesus,''  "'jesus,'" 
or  "  aunts. " 

The  "■petits  Jesus  "  are  lost,  depraved  children,  whom 
accident  places  in  the  hands  of  active  pederasts,  who 
seduce   them,    and   reveal   to  them  the  horrible  means 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  287 

of    earning    a    livelihood,    either   as    "  entretenus "    or 
as  male  street- walkers,  with  or  without  "■souteneurs.'" 

The  most  suitable  and  promising  "  petits  Jesus  "  are 
given  into  the  hands  of  persons  who  instruct  these 
children  in  the  art  of  female  dress  and  manner. 
Gradually  they  then  seek  to  emancipate  themselves 
from  their  teachers  and  masters,  in  order  to  become 
"'femmes  entretenues  ;  "  and  not  unfrequently,  by  means 
of  anonymous  denunciation  of  their  "  souteneurs  " ,  are 
caught  by  the  police. 

It  is  the  object  of  the  ""  souteneur''   and  the    ''petit 
jesus,""    to   make    the    latter    appear  young  as  long  as 
possible,  by  means  of  all  the  arts  of  the  toilet. 

The  limit  of  age  is  about  twenty-five  years ;  then 
they  all  become  ''Jesus''  and  "^ femmes  entretenues,"" 
and  are  then  sustained  by  several  "souteneurs."  The 
"■Jesus"  fall  into  three  categories:  " Jilles  galantes" 
i.e.,  those  that  have  fallen  again  into  the  hands  of  a 
"  souteneur  " ;  "  pierreuses  "  (ordinary  street- walkers, 
like  their  female  colleagues) ;  and  "  domestics. " 

The  "  domestics  "  hire  out  to  active  pederasts,  either 
to  gratify  their  desires,  or  to  obtain  " petits  Jesus" 
for  them. 

A  sub-group  of  these  "  domestics  "  is  formed  by  such 
of  them  as  enter  the  service  oi"  petits  Jesus  "  as  "/emmes 
de  chambre. "  The  principal  object  of  these  "  domestics  " 
is  to  use  their  positions  to  obtain  compromising 
knowledge,  with  which  they  later  practise  blackmail, 
and  thus  assure  themselves    ease  in  their  old  age. 

The  most  horrible  class  of  active  pederasts  is  made 
up  of  the  "aunts"  —  i.e.,  the  "souteneurs"  of  (male) 
prostitutes, — who,  though  normal  sexually  depraved, 
practise  pederasty  (passive)  only  for  gain,  or  for 
blackmail. 


288  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF 

The  wealthy  amateurs  have  their  reunions  and  places 
of  meeting,  where  the  passive  ones  appear  in  female 
attire,  and  horrible  orgies  take  place.  The  waiters, 
musicians,  etc.,  at  such  gatherings  are  all  pederasts. 
The  "-Jilles  galantes "  do  not  venture,  except  during 
the  carnival,  to  show  themselves  on  the  street  in  female 
dress ;  but  they  know  how  to  lend  to  their  appearance 
something  indicative  of  their  calling,  by  means  of 
style  of  dress,  etc.  They  entice  by  means  of  gesture, 
peculiar  movements  of  the  hands,  etc.,  and  lead  their 
victims  to  hotels,  baths,  or  brothels. 

What  the  author  says  of  blackmail  is  generally 
known.  There  are  cases  where  pederasts  have  allowed 
their  entire  fortune  to  be  wrung  from  them. 

Feminine  jealousies  and  hates  pale  before  the  horrible 
passions  excited  in  the  hearts  of  these  monstrous 
lovers.  Revenge  of  unrequited  love  (it  is  sad  to  have 
to  profane  the  word  "  love "  by  applying  it  such 
aberrations),  often  drives  the  neglected  one  to  use 
the  knife.  If  he  has  not  the  courage  to  do  this,  he 
seeks  a  new  lover,  who  can  avenge  for  him  the  disdain 
of  the  old  one.  Often  are  there  related  before  the 
Council  of  War  accounts  of  scenes  too  horrible  to 
dwell  upon,  for  these  murders  are  often  accompanied 
by  atrocious  aggravations,  and  erotic  mutilations.  The 
transported  convict  of  the  White  race  becomes  as 
ferocious  as  the  Kanaka,  and  has  not,  as  he  has,  the 
excuse  of  being  a  savage.  But  here  I  will  lay  down 
my  pen  for  the  present,  deeming  it  useless  to  tire  the 
reader  with  an  account  of  such  disgusting  turpitude.  ^ 


*  A  defence  of  uranism  has  been  made  by  Carl  Ut;6lCHS  writing 
under  the  name  of  "NUMA  NUMANTIUS,"  and  "all  the  latest  lite- 
rature," says  Schrenck-Notzing,   "shows  traces  of  the  influence  of  Ulrich's 


ANTHROPOLOGY,  289 

theory."*     Compare    the    following    writings   of   the    author   mentioned: 

"  Forschungen  iiber  das  Rathsel  der    mannmannlichen  Liebe : 

"VINDEX":  Social  and  legal  studies  of  male  love  of  males.  Proof 
that  it  deserves  purtishment  as  little  as  love  of  women,  and  that,  ac- 
cording to  the  existing  laws  of  Germany,  it  cannot  be  legally  punished. 
Leipzig,    1864. 

"INCLUSA":  Anthropological  studies  of  male  love  of  males.  Proof 
that  in  a  certain  class  of  individuals  of  masculine  form  sexual  love  of 
males  is  congenital  sexually.     Leipzig,    1864. 

"  VINDICATE  "  :  Struggle  for  freedom  from  persecution.  Criminal 
details  and  legislative  proposals,  looking  to  a  revision  of  existing  criminal 
laws.     Diary  of  an  urning.  Leipzig,    1865. 

"  FORMATRIX  " :  Anthropological  studies  of  the  love  of  urnings. 
Description  of  the  sexual  nature  of  urnings  in  detail.  Key  to  the 
riddle  of  uranism  and  its  varieties.     Leipzig,    1865. 

"  ARA  SPEI "  :  Studies  in  moral  and  social  philosophy  in  relation 
to  the  love  of  urnings.  Relation  of  the  urning's  love  to  morality, 
Christianity,  and  the  moral  arrangement  of  the  world.  Moral  justifica- 
tion of  the  urning's  love.  Love-bond  of  urnings.  The  conflict  of  urnings 
and  its  solution.  The  exceptional  place  of  love  in  the  moral  status  of 
the  world.      Hope.     Leipzig,   1865. 

"GLADIUS  FURENS":  The  enigma  of  nature  in  the  urning's 
love,  and  error  as  a  maker  of  laws.  An  arraignment  of  German  laws. 
Kassell,    1868. 

"  MEMNON  "  :  The  sexual  nature  of  the  male-loving  urning.  Psycho- 
physical hermaphroditism.  Am'ma  tnuh'ebris  virili  corporc  inclusa.  A 
study  in  natural  science.     Two  parts.  Schleiz,    1868. 

"  INCUBUS  " :  Urning's  love  and  blood-thirstiness.  A  consideration 
of  abnormal  states  of  mind  and  responsibility,  occasioned  by  the  case 
of  Zaslrow,  Berlin;  with  fifteen  allied  cases.     Leipzig,    1869. 

"  ARGONAUTICUS  "  :  Zastrow  and  the  urnings  belonging  to  the 
camp  of  the  pietists,  ultramontanes,  and  free-thinkers,  with  considerations 
concerning  blood-thirstiness  and  responsibility,  and  brief  reports  from 
the  world  of  urnings  and  the  criminal  cases :  Bishop  Morell,  of  Edin- 
burgh ;  Count  Czamechy,  of  Posen ;  Superintendent  Forstner,  of  Vienna. 
Leipzig,   1 869. 

*  See  Theurapeutic  Suggestion  in  Psychopathia  Sexualis  by  Dr.  A. 
von  Schrenck-Notzing  (Munich),  trans,  by  Chas.  G.  Chaddock,  M.D. 
(Phil,  and  Lond.,   1895). 


CHAPTER  VI. 

A  note  by  the  Author. — Anthropological  characteristics  of  the 
natives  of  the  Neiv  Hebrides. —  Their  admixture  with  the  Maori- 
Polynesian  race. — Characteristics  of  the  pure  Melanesian  race. — 
//  is  autochlnonous  in  Australia. — Anthropological  importance  of 
the  genital  organs  in  determining  the  origin  of  a  race.  —  The 
genital  organ  of  the  African  Negro,  and  of  his  various  crossings 
with  the  White.  —  The  genital  organ  of  the  Melanesian,  compared 
to  that  of  the  African  Negro.  — The  genital  organ  of  the  woman 
of  the  New  Hebrides. 

Note  by  the  Author.  I  have  not  had  the  good  luck 
to  visit  the  New  Hebrides,  but  I  studied  the  race  at 
Noumea,  where  many  of  the  New  Hebrideans  were, 
in  1 88 — ,  employed  by  the  colonists.  Besides  this,  I 
knew  several  "  Copra-makers, "  who  had  resided  in 
the  islands  for  a  time,  and  had  returned  to  New  Cale- 
donia to  recover  their  health,  which  had  been  weakened 
by  marsh  fever.  Amongst  these,  I  met  one  of  my  old 
college  chums,  formerly  an  officer  in  the  Navy,  who, 
after  a  series  of  adventures,  had  settled  down  in  these 
islands,  and  who  has  since  ended  by  leaving  his  bones 
there.  I  can  confidently  give  the  new  and  original 
information  with  which  he  suppHed  me.  I  have  also 
gathered  some  useful  knowledge  from  a  book  by  M. 
Imhaus,  formerly  the  manager  of  the  French  New 
Hebridean  Company. 

Anthropological  Characteristics  of  the  New  He- 
bridean Race.     The  New  Hebridean  is  a  Melanesian 

290 


UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF   ANTHROPOLOGY.  291 

Black  of  almost  pure  race,  in  most  of  the  islands.  In 
some  of  them  he  is  crossed,  like  the  Kanaka  of  New- 
Caledonia,  with  the  Maori-Polynesian  race; — but  these 
crossings  form  only  a  minority  of  the  natives.  Usually, 
the  New  Hebridean  is  darker,  less  robust,  and  not  so 
handsome  as  the  New  Caledonian.  I  must  remark, 
that  the  native  of  Loyalty  Island  is  of  Maori  race,  if 
not  almost  pure,  at  least  not  crossed  to  any  great 
extent  with  the  Melanesian  race,  and  that  he  is  in  a 
much  more  advanced  state  of  civilisation  than  the  New 
Caledonian.  I  may  apply  the  same  observation  to  the 
New  Hebridean,  who  is  lower  in  the  scale  than  the 
New  Caledonian.  In  all  these  people  the  degree  of 
civilisation  may  almost  be  ascertained  by  the  lighter 
colour  of  the  skin,  which  is  the  index  of  a  greater  or 
less  infusion  of  Maori  blood. 

When  speaking  of  Tahiti,  I  shall  make  a  special  study 
of  the  Maori  race.  For  the  time  being,  I  will  content 
myself  by  saying  that,  in  the  New  Hebrides,  we  are  able 
to  watch  the  effects  of  the  crossing  of  the  two  races. 

The  Crossing  of  the  Polynesian  and  Melanesian 
Races.  M.  Imhaus  gives  a  striking  instance  of  this 
admixture. 

"  In  the  small  island  of  Mele,  near  the  Sandwiches, 
the  intrusion  of  the  Maori  only  dates  back  about  thirty 
years,  w^hich  enables  us  to  see  clearly  the  progress 
made  by  the  race.  The  accident  which  caused  this 
was  the  wreck  of  a  vessel,  which  was  taking  some 
Kanaka  Maoris  back  to  Samoa.  The  crew  was 
murdered,  and  eaten,  but  the  Maoris,  braver  and  more 
vigorous  than  their  companions,  escaped  from  their 
enemies,  and  took  refuge  in  a  desert  corner  of  the 
island.     There  they  organised  their  forces,  and,  thanks 


292  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

to  the  internal  dissensions  amongst  the  New  Hebrideans, 
were  able  to  hold  their  ground,  and  make  themselves 
feared.  They  carried  off  wives  for  themselves,  from 
the  neighbouring  tribes,  and  they  formed,  at  last,  a 
powerful  tribe,  which  was  upon  the  point  of  subduing 
the  island,  if  it  had  not  come  across  the  White  man 
in  its  progress." 

Such  an  instance,  of  quite  recent  date,  well  explains 
why  the  mixed  population  of  Cana  and  Aoba  is  now 
so  different  from  that  of  the  other  islands,  where  the 
Melanesian  race  continues  to  be  unmixed. 

Characteristics  of  the  Melanesian  Race.  Firstly, 
let  it  be  said  that  the  Melanesian  Oceanean,  who  came 
from  Australia,  and  who  first  peopled  New  Caledonia, 
the  Loyalty  Islands,  and  the  New  Hebrides,  greatly 
resembles  the  African  Negro.  There  is  the  same  deep 
black  coloration  of  the  skin,  the  same  woolly  hair,  on 
a  high  skull  pressed  down  towards  the  front,  the  wide 
nose,  thick  lips,  flat  face,  and  low  facial  angle.  But 
there  the  resemblance  ceases.  Primarily,  I  may  remark 
that  the  African  Negroes  are  stalwart,  and  physically 
handsome,  whilst  the  Melanesian  race  is  the  most 
degraded  of  all,  and  undoubtedly  occupies  the  lowest 
rank  in  the  scale  of  humanity.  The  New  Hebridean, 
who  is  a  pure  Melanesian,  is  still  what  he  was  in  the 
time  of  Forster,  one  of  the  companions  of  Cook,  in 
1774,  who  closely  studied  the  natives  of  Mallicolo. 

"  Being  small  and  badly  proportioned,  with  lanky 
limbs,  a  pot  belly,  a  fiat  face,  and  thick,  frizzy  short 
hair,  these  savages  are  hideous ;  they  remind  one  more 
of  a  monkey  than  a  man."  Those  pseudo-scientific 
men,  who  have  never  taken  their  feet  off  their  own 
footstools,  have  gravely  discussed,  at  great  length,  the 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  293 

question  whether  the  Australian  Negro  came  from 
Africa,  or,  on  the  contrary,  the  African  Negro  came 
from  Australia.  They  have  never  taken  into  consid- 
eration the  distance  which  separates  the  nearest  part 
of  Australia  from  the  coast  of  Mozambique,  — a  distance 
equal  to  700  of  longitude,  or  one  fifth  of  the  circum- 
ference of  the  equator,  or  something  like  five  thousand 
miles,  or  rather  more  than  4500  nautical  miles.  And 
to  accomplish  this  enormous  distance  the  emigrants 
could  only  have  at  their  disposal,  a  few  clumsy  canoes, 
with  no  water,  no  food,  hardly  any  sails,  and  above 
all,  no  compass.  The  absurdity  of  such  an  hypotliesis 
is  palpable  when  we  remember  that  Christopher  Colum- 
bus, genius  as  he  was,  needed  the  compass,  unlimited 
faith,  three  ponderous  caravels,  and  the  best  and  bravest 
sailors  of  Spain,  to  perform  the  voyage  from  Palos  to 
San-Lucaye,  which  is  less  than  that  which  divides 
Africa  from  Australia.  No !  the  African  Negro  and 
the  Australian  Negro  are  two  entirely  distinct  races. 

The  Melanesia!!  Race  of  Australia  is  Autoch- 
thonous. Must  we  then  agree  with  that  theory  of 
modern  science,  according  to  which  Australia  has  its 
own  peculiar  race,  and  believe  that  the  Melanesian 
race  is  autochthonous?  That  is  Darwin's  theory,  who 
maintains  that  natural  selection  caused  man  to  appear 
simultaneously  or  successively,  in  several  parts  of  the 
earth.  One  point  is  now  generally  admitted  by  men 
of  science,  and  that  is  that  the  Australian  continent, 
the  last  discovered  by  European  civilisation  was,  on 
the  contrary,  the  first  to  appear  above  the  waters,  as 
we  learn  from  geological  data,  and  from  the  character 
of  the  fauna  and  flora.  Was  it  the  first  to  receive 
the    human    race,    and   does   that   explain   the   mental 


294  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS   OF 

inferiority  of  the  natives,  "compared  with  other  races? 
I  do  not  pretend  to  answer  the  question,  but  leave 
the  problem  for  others  to  solve. 

But  I  am  going  to  try  to  prove  here,  by  means  of 
the  difference  existing  between  the  anthropological 
characteristics,  that  the  Australian  Black  is  not  de- 
scended from  the  African  Negro.  He  differs  from  him 
less  than  do  the  other  races,  yellow,  white,  or  red, 
but  that  is  all. 

Anthropologicgd  Importance  of  the  Genital 
Organ   in   Determining   the    Origin   of  Race.     I 

revert  to  a  question  which  I  have  already  discussed. 
Misplaced  modesty  has  caused  anthropologists  gen- 
erally to  neglect  to  examine  the  male  genital  apparatus. 
Apart  from  this,  they  give  us  minute  details  concerning 
the  facial  angle,  the  prognathous  jaw,  etc.  Like  the 
Norman  peasant  of  Falaise,  they  have  forgotten  to 
light  the  candle  in  their  lantern.  To  me,  it  seems 
evident  that  the  genital  organ  gives  us  the  key  to 
prove  the  descent  of  a  race,  for,  in  all  the  various 
crossings  the  race  may  undergo,  it  is  physically  the 
most  powerful  characteristic, — the  one  which  lasts  the 
longest,  and  is  the  last  to  disappear.  And  this  is  but 
logical.  The  genital  organ  ensures  the  continuity  of 
the  race.  It  is  the  most  important  organ; -it  is  the 
last  to  appear,  and  the  first  to  disappear.  It  lasts 
hardly  more  than  half  the  life  of  a  man.  For  these 
reasons  it  is  the  anthropological  characteristic  to  which, 
above  all  others,  importance  should  be  attached,  and 
I  do  not  deem  it  more  shameful  and  disgusting  to 
measure  the  length,  the  size,  or  the  stiffness  in 
erection,  of  a  Negro's  penis,  than  it  would  be  for  a 
surgeon    to   probe   a  urethra,  or  perform  an  operation 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  295 

on  a  testicle.  There  is  no  false  modesty  in  medical 
matters. 

The  Genital  Organs  of  the  Coloured  Races. — 
Result  of  the  Crossing  of  the  Negro  and  the  White. 

Although  this  question  has  been  thoroughly  studied  in 
the  part  of  the  book  relating  to  Guiana,  I  refer  to  it 
again  here  to  facilitate  comparisons.  The  persistence 
of  the  characteristics  of  the  genital  organ  of  the  Negro 
in  all  the  crossings  of  the  race  first  proved  to  me  the 
importance  of  this  sign.  Thus  the  Zambo,  who  is  one 
quarter  White,  is  almost  a  Negro  as  regards  his  genital 
organ,  and  differs  more  from  the  White  man  than  the 
Quadroon,  who  is  one  fourth  Black,  differs  from  the 
Negro.  The  Mulatto  {half  White  and  half  Black)  is 
genitally  much  nearer  the  Negro  than  the  White. 
Taking  the  two  extreme  points  of  departure,  the  White 
and  the  Black,  and  comparing  the  two  genital  organs, 
I  have  shown  the  radical  differences  which  separate 
them  as  to  form,  colour,  and  size,  in  the  conditions  of 
fiaccidity  and  erection.  The  Zambo  is,  from  this  point 
of  view,  almost  a  Negro,  the  Mulatto  much  nearer  a 
Negro  than  a  White  man,  and  we  must  come  to  the 
Quadroon  before  we  find  that  the  genital  apparatus  of 
the  White  man  has  regained  its  lost  ground.  But,  I 
have  been  careful  to  state,  that  though  the  Quadroon, 
who  has  but  one  quarter  of  Black  blood,  may  often 
have  hair  almost  fair,  and  a  skin  lighter  than  that  of  a 
South  European,  a  simple  examination  of  the  genital 
organs  will  reveal  the  "man  of  colour".  The  penis  is 
always  proportionally  more  developed  than  in  the  pure 
White,  the  difference  between  the  flaccid  condition  and 
erection  less  considerable;  and,  finally,  the  mucous 
surface  of  the  gland  has  never  that  red  or  pink  colour 


296  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS   OF 

which    is   peculiar   to   the   European    of  the   unmixed 
White  race. 

The  influence  of  the  genital  organs  of  the  Negro  is 
still  evident  in  the  Octoroon  (who,  however,  has  but 
an  eighth  part  of  Black  blood)  and  can  be  recognised 
by  a  gland  of  a  rather  dark  brownish  red  colour,  and 
a  scrotum  much  darker  than  the  skin  of  the  body.  I 
attribute  this  curious  persistence  to  the  fact  that  the 
crossing  of  the  two  races  takes  place  in  tropical  coun- 
tries, and  in  unhealthy  climates,  for  which  the  Negro 
race  was  specially  created.  If  a  similar  crossing  took 
place  in  Siberia,  between  Russians  and  Negroes,  perhaps 
the  reverse  would  happen,  and  the  White  race  would 
have  the  superiority  over  the  Black. 

Comparison  of  the  Genital  Organ  of  the  Melane- 
sian  with  th^t  of  the  African  Negro.     By  the  aid 

of  these  facts,  I  am  able  to  rebut  the  theory,  that  the 
two  races  of  Negroes  of  Africa  and  Australia  have 
the  same  ethnological  origin.  And  here  are  my 
arguments.  In  the  Melanesian  Black,  however  dark 
the  skin  may  be,  and  it  is  often  as  black  as  a  pair 
of  boots  well  polished  with  Day  and  Martin's  blacking, 
you  will  never  iind  the  mucous  surface  of  the  gland 
black,  as  it  is  in  the  African  Negro.  The  mucous 
surface,  on  the  contrary,  is  of  a  fairly  bright  purplish 
red,  such  as  may  be  obtained  by  a  mixture  of  car- 
mine, Vermillion,  and  Vandyke  brown,  with  neutral 
tint  in  the  shadows. 

This  colour,  being  rather  bright,  contrasts  forcibly 
with  the  dark  ground  of  the  skin  of  the  penis  and 
the  scrotum.  It  resembles  the  penis  of  a  Negro,  the 
mucous  surface  of  the  gland  of  which  has  been 
flayed.     As  to  the  genital  apparatus,  it  is  less  developed 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  297 

in  the  Melanesian  than  in  the  African  Negro.  The 
dimensions  of  the  penis  are  very  nearly  those  (as 
average  and  maximum)  given  for  the  New  Caledonian ; 
but  the  gland  has  a  more  obtuse  shape,  and  there  are 
cases  of  phimosis,  when  circumcision  has  not  been 
performed.  The  testicles  appeared  to  me  to  be  a 
little  less  developed.  The  pubes  is  shaded  with  rather 
coarse,  curly  hair.  In  a  flabby  state,  the  penis  is  still 
fairly  large,  but  the  difi^erence  in  the  state  of  erection 
is  very  marked,  which  is  not  the  case  with  the  African 
Negro.  These  fundamental  differences  between  the 
genital  organs  of  the  Australian  and  African  Negroes 
are,  to  my  mind,  an  unanswerable  proof  that  the  former 
are  autochthonous  in  Australia,  and  that  that  country 
is  the  cradle  of  the  race.  From  there  it  spread  to 
New  Caledonia,  then  to  the  New  Hebrides,  where 
later  the  Black  race  became  mixed  with  the  Maori- 
Polynesian. 

The  Genital  Organ  of  the  Woman  of  the  New 
Hebrides  is  naturally  in  proportion  to  that  of  the 
male  organ.  It  presents  very  little  difference  (except 
a  darker  colour  of  the  skin  and  the  mucous  surfaces) 
from  that  of  the  New  Caledonian  woman.  I  therefore 
refer  the  reader  to  what  I  have  already  written  con- 
cerning the  latter. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

A  few  words  on  the  manners,  customs^  etc.,  of  the  New  Hebtt- 
deans. —  Costume. — The  manou. — The  woman's  girdle. —  Tattoo- 
ing.—  Habitations, — Food. — Arms  and  utensils. — The  tam-tam; 
the  pilou-pilou.  —  The  erotic  dance. — The  Kawa. 

A  Few   Words  on  the  Manners,   Customs,  etc. 

Before  studying  the  New  Hebridean  in  contact  with 
the  White  man,  it  is  as  weU  to  cast  a  rapid  glance  at 
the  manners  and  customs  of  the  people.  We  wiU  begin 
by  mentioning  that  the  dialect  varies  in  every  island 
throughout  the  group. 

Costume.— The  Manou  of  the  New  Hebridean. 

Like  that  of  the  New  Caledonian,  the  costume  is  of  the 
simplest  possible  kind,  and,  for  the  man,  is  confined  to 
the  manou.  But  the  manou  is  of  a  different  shape. 
The  New  Caledonian  lets  his  hang  between  his  legs 
down  to  the  knees.  The  New  Hebridean,  on  the  con- 
trary, pulls  his  up,  and  passes  the  end  under  a  girdle 
of  aloe  fibre  which  he  is  never  without. 

At  Santo  and  Aoba,  instead  of  the  manou,  the  men 
wear  a  kind  of  short  petticoat  made  of  bark,  and  not 
more  than  four  or  five  inches  in  length  (just  sufiicient 
to  hide  the  genital  organs),  which  is  fastened  to  a  narrow 
girdle.  But,  in  the  other  islands,  the  upright  manou 
is  used  and  it  has  the  curious  effect  of  letting  the  two 
testicles  stand  out  exposed  to  sight,  owing  to  the  lower 
part  of  the  scrotum  being  pulled  up  by  the  manou. 

298 


UNTRODDEN  FIELDS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY.    299 

The  Women's  Girdle.  In  all  the  islands  the  women 
axe  completely  naked  above  the  waist.  Those  of  Aoba 
wear  a  plaited  petticoat ;  in  the  other  islands,  a  few 
fibres  of  cocoa-nut  are  twisted  into  a  wreath  threaded 
on  a  cord,  which  passes  round  the  hips  and  constitutes 
the  whole  costume.  This  little  petticoat  only  covers 
the  abdomen  and  the  buttocks.  At  Tana  the  petticoat 
comes  down  to  the  ground,  and  resembles  an  old  crinoline, 
rather  flattened. 

Tattooing  Tattooing  is  very  little  used,  and  is  con- 
fined to  a  few  blue  rays  on  the  face,  and  a  scar  or 
two  on  the  body.  But  the  native  smears  himself  all 
over,  principally  on  the  face,  with  red  and  white  paint, 
which  gives  him  a  terrible  appearance  in  war. 

Habitations. — Food.  I  will  simply  say  that  the 
hut  much  resembles  that  of  the  New  Caledonian,  and 
that,  like  the  latter,  the  New  Hebridean  lives  almost 
entirely  upon  vegetable  food.  The  introduction  of 
poultry  and  pigs,  by  Cook,  however,  somewhat  im- 
proved the  diet.  On  the  coast,  the  tribes  have  a  further 
resource,  in  the  form  of  fish.  The  New  Hebrideans 
harpoon  fish  with  their  javelins. 

Arms  and  Utensils.  The  utensils  are  confined  to 
some  rude  dishes  of  wood  or  bamboo,  and  the  furniture 
to  a  few  mats  placed  on  the  ground.  In  the  way  of 
weapons,  the  New  Hebridean  possesses  the  war  club 
with  a  rounded  head  and  points  projecting-  from  it  all 
round;  javehns,  ten  feet  long,  armed  at  the  tip  with 
splinters  of  bone,  and  with  a  human  shin  bone  fastened 
to  the  butt ;  and  bows,  throwing  arrows  furnished  with 
human   bones.     Arrows  and  darts  are  often  poisoned. 


300  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF 

by  means  of  a  sticky  extract  made  from  the  juice  of 
certain  plants.  The  Whites  who  trade  (usually  with 
the  exchange  of  shots  on  both  sides)  with  the  natives, 
greatly  fear  the  wounds  of  these  poisoned  weapons, 
and  so  they  sold  them  a  number  of  old  muzzle  loading 
muskets,  shooting  round  bullets.  They  have  also  im- 
prudently allowed  them  to  possess  some  Snider  rifles. 
This  fault  was  due  to  the  captains  of  some  of  the 
Enghsh  vessels,  but  now  the  few  Whites  who  inhabit 
the  island,  still  manage  to  make  themselves  feared,  by 
means  of  their  American  Winchester  rifles,  with  sixteen 
shots  in  the  magazine. 

The  Tam-tam;  the  Pilou-pilou.  On  the  little 
open  space  in  the  middle  of  each  village  may  be  seen, 
fastened  into  the  ground,  enormous  trunks  of  hollow 
trees,  having  the  form  of  human  heads  and  trunks, 
with  an  enormous  phallus.  This  is  the  New  Hebridean 
tam-tam,  which  gives,  when  it  is  struck  with  a  thick 
stick,  a  dull  sound,  like  that  of  a  big  drum.  After 
the  yam  and  banyan  harvests,  the  natives  assemble  at 
the  sound  of  this  drum,  and  dance  an  interminable 
pilou-pilou,  like  that  of  the  New  Caledonian,  During 
two  or  three  days,  they  eat,  drink,  yell,  beat  the  tam- 
tam, and  play  on  bamboo  pipes.  These  wild  dances 
sometimes  mimic  war,  and  sometimes  love, 

"  The  Erotic  Dance.  "  No  art,"  observes  Mr.  T.  M. 
Wheeler,  ^  "  dates  back  to  a  more  hoary  antiquity  than 
that  of  dancing;  nor  is  there  any  the  history  of  which 
takes  us  over  a  wider  survey  of  mankind.  From  pre- 
historic times  only  to  be  interpreted  by  such  remains 

'  In    Footsteps   of  the   Past,   being  Essays    on    Human    Evolution, 
Lond.  n.  d. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  301 

as  gesture  language,  hieroglyphics,  the  customs  of 
modem  savages,  and  the  games  of  children,  down  to 
our  own  ballets  and  ball-rooms;  on  every  part  of  the 
globe,  from  China  to  Peru,  alike  among  North  American 
Indians  and  natives  of  Central  Africa,  dancing  is  found. 
It  goes  deeper  than  spoken  language.  Thoughts  and 
feelings  were  expressed  by  actions  long  before  they 
were  communicated  by  words.  Dancing  is  indeed,  as 
Elie  Reel  us  says,  '  the  supreme  art  and  language  of  primi- 
tive men.'  It  even  preceded  humanity,  an  inheritance 
from  ape-like  ancestors."  In  case  the  latter  remark 
may  seem  to  go  too  far  for  a  scientific  work,  we  quote 
from  Prof.  Robert  Hartmann's  interesting  account  of 
a  captive  gorilla:  ^ — 

"  He  often  expressed  his  feelings  after  quite  a  human  fashion,  by 
clapping  his  hands  together,  an  action  which  no  one  had  taught  him; 
and  he  executed  such  wild  dances,  sometimes  overbalancing  himself, 
reeling  to  and  fro,  and  whirling  round,  that  we  were  often  disposed  to 
think  that  he  must  be  drunk.  Yet  he  was  only  drunk  with  pleasure, 
and  this  impelled  him  to  display  his  strength  in  the  wildest  gambols." 

The  same  writer  adds  that  "  among  savage  races  the 
medicine-men,  shamans,  sorcerers,  rain  doctors,  etc., 
often  assume  ape-like  attitudes  in  the  contortions,  leaps, 
dances,  and  other  gestures  which  are  inseparable  from 
their  trade." 

In  unconscious  excitement,  action  becomes  automatic 
and  atavistic.  Savages  dance  off  their  emotions,  whether 
of  anger  or  entreaty,  of  passion  for  hunting,  war,  love, 
or  religion. 

Prof.  Hartmann  thinks  that:  "when  we  see  a  Zikr, 
an  Islamite  rite  of  worship,  accompanied  by  obligatory 
howls  and  contortions  of  body,  we  are  tempted  to 
imagine    ourselves    in    the    midst    of  a   troop   of  wild 

'  Anthropoid  Apes,   263. 


302  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

apes."     The  Zikr,  be  it  said,  is  an  ancient  lunar  dance, 
in  honour  of  the  moon  as  time-measurer. 

A  far  greater  authority  even  than  the  writer  just 
quoted,  Herbert  Spencer,  finds  the  origin  of  dance  and 
song  in  the  same  instinctive  motions.     He  says: 

"  Muscular  movements  in  general  are  originated  by  feelings  in  genera  . 
The  violent  muscular  motions  of  the  limbs  which  cause  bounds  and 
gesticulations,  as  well  as  those  strong  contractions  of  the  pectoral  and 
vocal  muscles  which  produce  shouting  and  laughter,  become  the  natural 
language  of  great  pleasure.  Consequently,  children  shout  and  jump  when 
they  are  pleased.  So  when  primitive  kings  are  honoured  by  their  sub- 
jects, they  are  honoured  by  irregular  jumping  and  gesticulation,  with  un- 
rhythmical shouts  and  cries,  at  first  rising  without  concert,  but  which 
gradually  by  repetition  become  regularised  into  the  measured  movements 
we  know  as  dances,  and  the  organised  utterances  constituting  songs." 

It  may  be  not  uninteresting  in  this  connection  to 
recall  a  peculiar  kind  of  chorographic  display  described 
by  Colonel  Dalton,  ^  a  gentleman  I  once  had  the 
honour  to  meet  with  abroad;  I  refer  to  the  bear 
dancers  of  the  Juangs,  who  with  the  exception  of  some 
leaves,  are  entirely  nude.  "  The  girls  acting  independ- 
ently advance  with  bodies  so  much  inclined,  that  their 
hands  touch  the  ground;  thus  they  move  not  unlike 
bears,  and  by  a  motion  from  the  knees  the  bodies 
wriggle  violently,  and  the  broad  tails  of  green  leaves 
flap  up  and  down  in  the  most  ludicrous  manner.  The 
pigeon  dance  followed:  the  action  of  a  love-making 
pigeon  when  he  struts,  pouts,  sticks  out  his  breast,  and 
scrapes  the  ground  with  his  wings  was  well  imitated,  the 
hands  of  the  girls  doing  duty  as  wings.  Then  came  a 
pig  and  a  tortoise  dance,  in  which  the  motions  of  those 
animals  were  less  felicitously  rendered,  and  the  quail 
dance  in  which  they  squatted  and  pecked  at  the  ground 

'   Col.  E.  T.  Dalton,  Deutiptivc  Ethnology  of  India,  Calcutta,  1872. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  303 

after  the  fashion  of  those  birds.  They  concluded  with 
the  vulture  dance,  a  highly  dramatic  finale.  One  of 
the  men  was  made  to  lie  on  the  ground  and  represent 
a  dead  body.  The  girls  in  approaching  it  imitated 
the  hopping,  sidling  advances  of  the  bird  of  prey,  and 
using  their  hands  as  beaks,  snipped  and  pinched  the 
pseudo-corpse  in  a  manner  that  made  him  occasionally 
forget  his  character  and  yell  with  pain.  This  caused 
great  amusement  to  his  tormentors.  I  have  heard," 
adds  Col.  Dalton,  "of  a  'ballet',  called  'the  cocks  and 
hens',  but  this  they  could  not  be  induced  to  exhibit. 
It  was  admitted  that  it  was  impossible  to  keep  the 
leaves  in  proper  position  whilst  they  danced  it.  It  was 
too  much  of  a  romp,  especially  for  a  day  performance. " 

Kawa.  To  stimulate  themselves,  everybody  drinks 
Kawa,  a  drink  made  from  a  root  which  is  chewed  by 
the  woman,  who  spit  juice  and  saliva  into  wooden 
basins,  where  it  ferments.  This  beverage,  which  is 
not  very  enticing  to  a  European,  produces  an  intoxi- 
cation quite  as  violent  as  that  caused  by  alcohol. 


CHAPTER  Vin. 

Forms  and  perversions  of  the  sexual  habit  amongst  the  New 
Hebrideans. — Social  condition  of  woman. — Marriage, — Sacrifice 
of  widows  in  the  islands  of  Tanna  and  Anatom. — Adultery 
and  its  punishment. 

The  information  on  these  heads  I  can  only  give 
subject  to  some  reserve,  for  as  regards  most  of  these 
heads,  I  have  had  to  content  myself  with  information 
furnished  by  New  Hebrideans,  men  and  women,  who 
had  come  to  New  Caledonia,  to  be  hired  as  servants. 

The  Popin^e  of  the  New  Hebrides.  The  social 
condition  of  the  Popinee  of  the  New  Hebrides  differs 
little  from  that  of  the  woman  of  New  Caledonia.  As 
a  girl,  she  is  under  the  absolute  control  of  her  father ; 
as  a  woman,  she  does  but  change  her  master.  She 
is  considered  as  much  inferior  to  the  man,  and  is  not 
allowed  to  eat  at  the  same  time  with  him,  but  must 
wait  till  he  has  finished.  Her  husband  has  the  right 
to  beat  her,  or  kill  her,  without  anyone  thinking  of 
blaming  him,  or  still  less  of  punishing  him.  He  takes 
no  notice  of  her;  never  entrusts  her  with  a  secret; 
and  is  much  offended  if  a  White  man  offers  the  poor 
wretch  a  morsel  of  food  or  a  cup  of  drink.  She  has, 
however,    a    great    advantage   over   her   neighbour  of 

304 


UNTRODDEN  FIELDS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY.    305 

New  Caledonia,  inasmuch  as  she  is  not  obliged  to 
give  herself  up  to  several  men  at  the  same  time. 
Polyandry,  which  is  caused  by  a  disproportion  in  the 
number  of  women,  is  a  rarity  in  the  New  Hebrides. 
No  woman  has  more  than  one  husband,  and  the  chiefs 
of  the  tribes  are  even  polygamists. 

Marriage  is  performed  with  certain  ceremonies 
which  have  no  religious  meaning,  and  are  only  intended 
to  denote  the  husband's  possession  of  the  wife.  It  is 
at  one  of  the  pilou-pilous  that  the  young  man  generally 
picks  out  his  future  bride.  He  does  not  worry  himself 
at  all  about  her  heart,  but  makes  a  declaration  of  love 
to  the  girl's  father.  If  he  does  not  oppose  the  match, 
the  future  bridegroom  has  only  to  obtain  the  chiefs 
permission  to  marry.  When  this  permission  is  obtained, 
the  girl  has  nothing  to  do  but  obey. 

Wives  are  also  obtained  in  another  manner.  When 
two  neighbouring  tribes  are  at  peace,  two  young 
people  of  either  tribe  can  exchange  sisters, — of  course 
with  the  father's  consent.  But  then  the  chief  of  each 
tribe  is  entitled  to  a  present  from  the  young  warrior 
of  the  other  tribe.  In  this  case,  also,  the  girl's  consent 
is  not  necessary.  If  a  girl  or  woman  has  no  male 
relatives,  the  chief  of  the  tribe  gives  her  away  in 
marriage,  or  not  unfrequently  takes  her  himself. 

If  a  woman  is  too  much  ill-treated  by  her  husband, 
she  may  put  herself  under  the  protection  of  another 
man,  and  eventually  become  his  wife.  In  this  special 
case,  which  is  very  rare,  the  woman  becomes  the 
object  of  a  deadly  combat  between  the  two  men,  who 
fight  with  war  clubs  like  two  knights  of  the  Middle 
Ages  at  a  tournament.  If  the  woman's  protector  is 
vanquished,    the   husband   generally   clubs   the  two  of 


306  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

them  to  death,  and  a  grand  pilou-pilou  is  danced  round 
their  bodies,  as  a  sort  of  funeral  ceremony. 

When  a  chief  dies,  if  he  has  several  wives,  the  new 
chief  picks  out  those  which  please  him,  and  those  he 
does  not  like  are  hanged  or  clubbed  to  death,  at  a 
grand  pilou-pilou  given  in  honour  of  the  late  chief 

Sacrifice  of  Widows  in  the  Islands  of  Tanna 
and  Anatom.  At  Tanna  the  wife  is  frequently- 
strangled  after  the  death  of  her  husband ;  this  custom 
no  longer  exists  amongst  the  tribes  of  the  interior. 
It  was  imported,  it  would  appear,  from  the  island  of 
Anatom,  where  it  is  stiU  in  force,  for  the  women  wear 
round  their  necks,  from  the  time  of  their  childhood,  a 
cord,  to  incessantly  remind  them  of  the  fate  in  store 
for  them.  The  strangulation  is  performed  in  this 
manner.  Two  young  men,  whilst  the  woman  is  asleep, 
drive  pegs  into  the  ground  on  each  side  of  her,  and 
fasten  the  cord  to  them  in  such  a  manner  that  the 
neck  remains  compressed,  until  death  ensues. 

The  husband-poisoner,  who  now  and  again  crops  up 
in  England  and  France,  would  have  little  motive  in 
these  savage  countries  to  play  this  unhappy  role,  it 
being  to  the  obvious  advantage  of  every  married  lady 
to  keep  her  "  lord  "  in  the  "  land  of  the  living  "  as  long 
as  possible.  It  is  quite  appalling  to  reflect  upon  the 
universality  of  widow-sacrificing.  Westermarck  says : — 
Formerly  among  the  Comanches,  when  a  man 
died  his  favourite  wife  was  kiUed  at  the  same  time.  ^ 
In  certain  Californian  tribes,  widows  were  sacrificed 
on     the    pyre    with    their    deceased    husbands ;  ^    and 

'  Schoolcraft,  "  Historical  and  Statistical  Information  on  the  Indian  Tribes 
of  North  America,"  vol.  TI,  p.   133. 

*  Ihid,  vol.  IV,  p.   226;  vol.  V,  p.   217. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  307 

Mackenzie  was  told  that  this  practice  sometimes  occurred 
among  the  Crees.  ^  In  Darien  and  Panama,  on  the 
death  of  a  chief,  all  his  concubines  were  interred  with 
him.  ^  When  one  of  the  Incas  died,  says  Acosta,  the 
woman  who  he  had  loved  best,  as  well  as  his  servants 
and  officers,  were  put  to  death,  "  that  they  might  serve 
him  in  the  other  life."  ^  The  same  custom  prevailed 
in  the  region  of  the  Congo,  as  also  in  some  other 
African  countries.  *  "  It  is  no  longer  possible  to  doubt," 
says  Dr.  Schrader,  "  that  ancient  Indo-Germanic  custom 
ordained  that  the  wife  should  die  with  her  husband. "  ^ 
In  India,  as  is  well  known,  widows  were  sacrificed, 
until  quite  resently,  on  the  funeral  pile  of  their  hus- 
bands ;  ^  whilst,  among  the  Tartars,  according  to 
Navarette,  on  a  man's  death,  one  of  his  wives  hanged 
herself  "  to  bear  him  company  in  that  journey.  Among 
the  Chinese,  something  of  the  same  kind  seems  to  have 
been  done  occasionally  in  olden  times."  ''  Writers  of 
the  stamp  of  Max  Nordau  are  nevertheless  enquiring 
vigorously  whether  in  Europe  the  majority  of  widows 
are  not  also  subjected  to  a  species  of  "economic 
strangulation"  when  once  the  bread-winner  has  gone. 
But    this    question    belongs   rather   to   the   domain   of 

'Mackenzie,   "Voyages    to  the  Frozen  and  Pacific  Oceans,"  London, 
1802,  p,  98. 

'  Seeman,   "Voyage  of  the  Herald,"   Lond.    1853,  vol.  I,  p.   316. 

*  Acosta,   "Natural  and  Moral  Hist,   of  the  Indies,"  Lond.    1880. 

*  Reade  (Winwood),    "Savage  Africa,"   Lond.   1863,  p.   359.    Waitz, 
"Anthropologic  der  Naturvolker,"  Leipzig,   1859 — 72,  pp.  192,  193,419. 

*  Schrader,    "Prehistoric    Antiquities    of  the    Aryan    Peoples,"    Lond. 
1890,  p.  391. 

*  Crawfurd,   "  Hist,  of  the  Indian  Archipelago"  vol.  II,  p.  241.  Zimmer- 
man,  "Die  Inseln  des  Indischen  Meeres,"   Berlin,    1863,  vol.  I,  p.    19. 

'Navarette,    "An   Account    of  the    Empire   of   China,"  in  Awnsham 
and  Churchill's  "Collection  of  Voyages  and  Travels",  p.   77. 


308  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF 

Social  Economics  than  to  a  sober  work  on  Anthropo- 
logy and  it  must  be  strictly  "  tabooed  "  here. 

Adultery.  In  certain  islands,  the  outraged  husband 
has  the  right  of  life  or  death  on  the  wife  and  her  lover. 
But  the  latter  generally  defends  himself,  and  a  combat 
takes  place  as  related  above.  In  other  islands,  on  the 
contrary,  the  husband  sells  his  adulterous  wife,  even  if 
the  lover  is  a  White  man.  ^ 

The  Position  in  Coitu.  Our  friend.  Dr.  Ploss,  thought 
it  well  to  explain  his  standpoint  in  treating  this  ques- 
tion, and  we  can  do  no  more  than  quote  his  words: — 

"  It  may  seem  strange  that  we  should  give  a  par- 
ticular attention  to  the  situation  and  position  of  the 
actors  in  sexual  connection. 

"It  is  by  no  means  our  intention,  in  the  manner  of 
Pietro  Aretino,  to  pass  in  review  all  the  positions  which 

*  Quite  recently  we  English  have  somewhat  restrained  our  inclination  to 
pretend  that  morally  we  are  better  than  any  other  nation.  The  records 
of  the  courts  and  the  scandals  of  society  prove  that  in  sexual  matters 
we  are  as  culpable  as  any  people  on  earth.  And,  owing  to  our  Peck- 
sniffian  airs,  care  has  been  taken  that  the  world  shall  be  informed  of 
this  fact.  Here,  for  instance,  is  "  Les  Dessous  de  la  Pudibonderie 
Anglaise,"  a  volume  of  468  pages,  published  in  French,  containing 
summaries  of  some  of  the  most  sensational  divorce  cases,  beginning  with 
that  of  Admiral  Knowles  in  1755.  We  are  also  treated  to  some  choice 
passages  from  the  English  comedy  writers,  even  in  the  present  century. 
These  are  of  a  nature  to  make  one  wonder  at  the  impudence  of  ignorant 
people  in  this  country  on  the  boldness  of  the  foreign  stage,  which  was 
never  so  coarse  or  so  brutal  as  that  of  England.  "We  have  in  this 
smartly  edited  and  lively  book  a  picture  of  British  morals  and  manners 
sufficient  to  moderate  our  inordinate  self-esteen  and  offensive  hypocrisy. 
An  effective  chapter  might  have  been  added  as  to  the  terrible  inrnio- 
rality  prevailing  at  the  present  day  among  the  clergy  of  the  English 
Established  Church. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  309 

may  be  invented  by  refined  lechery  and  voluptuous- 
ness, but  only  to  examine  the  positions  adopted  by 
certain  peoples,  and  which  are  worthy  of  our  attention 
because  they  differ  from  those  usually  known.  It  is 
therefore  not  from  an  erotic,  but  solely  from  the  eth- 
nographic and  anthropological  point  of  view  that  we 
feel  called  upon  to  study  this  question.  For  we  must 
the  more  devote  our  attention  to  this  subject,  that  the 
differencies  noticed  may  raise  the  question,  though 
perhaps  not  bringing  an  immediate  answer,  what  are 
the  causes  and  conditions  which  are  here  at  work,  if 
there  is  an  instinctive  imitation  of  the  copulation  of 
certain  animals,  or  if  we  must  see  therein  the  result 
of  certain  anatomical  modifications  in  the  human  races. 

"  It  is  quite  natural  to  understand  that  man  instinct- 
ively adopts,  in  all  his  physiological  acts,  the  position 
which  he  finds  the  easiest  and  most  convenient. 

"  It  is  therefore  natural  to  suppose  that  this  principle 
prevails  in  all  countries  and  that  there  are  certain 
modes  and  forms  which  exist  and  have  become  tradi- 
tional among  certain  peoples,  and  this  extends  to  the 
position  occupied  by  man  and  woman  in  coitu  and 
which  we  find  to  exist  traditionally  among  different 
peoples. 

"  We  find  besides,  in  different  countries,  many  differ- 
ences of  practice  which  are  accepted  by  reason  of 
their  ancient  customs  and  legendary  habit." 

Sodomy.  We  may  remind  the  student  that  this 
offence  is  punishable  under  the  24  and  25  Vict.  C. 
100,  S.  61.  "Whosoever  shall  be  convicted  of  the 
abominable  crime  of  buggery,  committed  either  with 
mankind  or  with  any  animal,  shall  be  liable,  at  the 
discretion  of  the  court,  to  be  kept  in  penal  servitude 
for  life,  or  for  any  term  not  less  than  ten  years." 


310  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

"  Sodomy  is  commonly  understood,"  writes  Taylor,  "  to 
signify  unnatural  intercourse  between  men  and  man, 
while  bestiality  implies  unnatural  intercourse  with  animals. 
Continental  medical  jurists  have  invented  a  new  term 
Pederastia  (riijs/jo?  spxsrijc,  pueri  amator),  comprising  those 
cases,  not  unfrequent,  in  which  boys  at  about  the  age 
of  puberty  are  made  the  victims  of  the  depraved 
passions  of  a  certain  class  of  men,  but  this  term  is  not 
applicable  to  the  crime  committed  by  and  between 
adults." 

The  New  Hebridean  Popinee  has  not  the  same  horror 
of  the  vice  of  sodomy  that  the  African  Negress  has. 
The  girl  mentioned  in  the  foregoing  story  was  not 
the  only  one  of  the  hired  women  to  whom  I  gave 
medical  attendance,  and  it  often  happened  that  I  found 
signs  of  inveterate  sodomy. 

We  have  little  right  to  despise  the  savage  for  being 
addicted  to  this  shocking  habit  if  we  take  into  considera- 
tion the  frequency  with  which  such  cases  come  before 
European  tribunals.  Taylor  states  indeed  that  this 
crime  is  unhappily  frequent  in  Lancashire,  hardly  an 
assize  being  held  in  Manchester  or  Liverpool  where 
one  or  more  of  these  cases  are  not  tried.  The  crime 
is  not  unfrequent  among  seamen.  In  a  case  tried  at 
Liverpool  in  1 884  it  was  proved  that  a  sailor  had  induced 
a  lad  to  go  to  sea  in  order  that  he  might  act  as  the 
prisoner's  passive  agent.  The  lad  was  unaware  of 
this,  and  on  the  offence  being  committed  denounced 
the  prisoner  to  the  rest  of  the  crew,  who  complained 
to  the  captain,  and  the  prisoner  was  given  in  charge 
to  the  authorities  at  the  port  in  South  America.  The 
consular  authorities  inquired  into  the  case,  but  sent  the 
prisoner  home  for  trial  in  England.  The  boy  was 
examined  by  Lowndes,  who  found  him  suifering  from 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  311 

pain  in  the  anus  and  rectum,  although  this  was  some 
time  after  the  committal  of  the  offence.  The  prisoner 
was  convicted,  and  sentenced  to  twenty  years'  penal 
servitude.  In  another  case  where  Lowndes  gave 
evidence  the  prisoner,  a  blind  man,  was  charged  with 
committing  this  offence  upon  his  own  son,  a  boy  of 
twelve,  who  was  himself  the  subject  of  partial  paralysis. 
There  were  indications  thatt^e  crime  had  been  com- 
mitted. The  jury  found  me  prisoner  guilty  of  the 
attempt,  and  he  was  sentenced  to  ten  years'  penal 
servitude. 

Unless  an  examination  is  made  soon  after  the  per- 
petration of  the  crime,  the  signs  of  it  will  disappear. 
In  the  case  of  one  long  habituated  to  these  unnatural 
practices,  certain  changes  have  been  pointed  out  as 
medical  proofs,  among  them  a  funnel-shaped  state  of 
parts  between  the  nates,  with  the  appearance  of 
dilatation,  stretching,  or  even  a  patulous  state  of  the 
anus,  and  a  destruction  of  the  folded  or  puckered  state 
of  the  skin  in  this  part.  There  may  be  also  marks 
of  laceration,  cicatrices,  etc.,  and  sometimes  the  evidence 
derivable  from  the  presence  of  syphilitic  disease. 

This  condition  of  parts  would  represent  the  chronic 
state  induced  by  these  practices  in  the  patient  or 
succubus.  In  the  recent  or  acute  form,  fissure  and 
laceration  of  the  sphincter  ani,  with  bruising  and  effusion 
of  blood,  would  be  found.  The  appearances  above 
described  as  belonging  to  the  chronic  stage  were  met 
with  in  the  case  of  Eliza  Edwards.  Her  history  is 
curious.  "  An  unclaimed  body  was  sent  to  Guy's 
Hospital  by  the  inspector  of  anatomy,  as  a  female : 
on  removing  the  dress,  however,  it  was  found  to  be 
that  of  a  male.  From  some  suspicion  respecting  the 
cause  of  death,  and  the  habits  of  this  person,  a  coroner's 


312  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

inquest  was  held.  It  turned  out  that  the  deceased, 
whose  age  was  24,  had  assumed  the-dress  of  a  female 
at  the  age  of  14,  and  had  performed  in  many  parts 
of  England  as  an  actress.  The  features  had  a  somewhat 
feminine  character;  the  hair  was  very  long,  and  parted 
in  the  centre;  the  beard  had  been  carefully  plucked 
out,  and  the  remains  of  this  under  the  chin  had  been 
concealed  by  a  peculiar  style  of  dress.  It  was  remarked 
during  life  that  the  voice  was  hoarse.  The  breasts 
were  like  those  of  a  male,  and  the  male  sexual  organs 
were  perfectly  developed.  They  had  evidently  been 
subjected  to  great  stretching,  and  appeared  to  have 
been  drawn  forward  and  secured  to  the  lower  part  of 
the  abdomen.  The  state  of  the  rectum  left  no  doubt 
of  the  abominable  practices  to  which  this  individual 
had  been  addicted.  It  was  found  that  death  had  taken 
place  from  natural  causes.  The  most  remarkable  cir- 
cumstance in  this  case  is,  that  the  deceased  had  been 
attended  in  his  last  illness  by  an  eminent  physician  for 
disease  of  the  lungs ;  and  so  well  was  the  imposition 
maintained,  that  this  medical  attendant  did  not  entertain 
a  suspicion  of  the  real  sex  of  his  patient.  ^  This 
person  was  found  after  death  to  be  a  man,  although 
he  had  passed  himself  off  in  dress  and  habits  during 
life  as  a  woman.  On  an  examination  of  the  body 
there  was  strong  evidence  that  he  had  been  for  many 
years  addicted  to  unnatural  habits.  It  was  noticed  by 
all  present  that  the  aperture  of  the  anus  was  much 
wider  and  larger  than  natural.  There  was  a  slight 
protrusion  and  thickening  of  the  mucous  membrane  at 
the  margin.  The  rugae  or  folds  of  skin  which  give 
the  puckered  appearance  to  the  anal  aperture  had 
quite  disappeared,  so  that  this  part  resembled  the  labia 
*  Med.  and  Phys.  Journ.,  Feb.    1833,  p.    168. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  313 

of  the  female  organs.  The  lining  membrane  was 
thickened  at  the  verge  of  the  anus  and  was  in  an 
ulcerated  condition.  The  male  organs  had  been  drawn 
up  and  secured  by  a  bandage  bound  round  the  lower 
part  of  the  abdomen.  A  .short  account  of  this  remark- 
able case  of  concealed  sex  was  published  in  the  '  Lond. 
Med.  and  Physical  Journ.',  Feb.  1833,  p.  168.  Trials 
for  this  crime  are  not  unfrequent,  but  the  reports  of 
evidence  are  not  made  public.  There  cannot  be  any 
doubt  that  false  charges  are  as  common  as  in  cases 
of  rape.  They  are  made  for  the  purpose  of  extortion, 
and  as  the  publication  of  such  a  charge,  even  when 
unfounded,  is  really  dreaded,  and  has  actually  led  to 
suicide,  it  often  proves  a  successful  method  of  extortion. 
It  is  especially  deserving  of  notice  that  such  accusations 
are  frequently  made  by  soldiers  and  policemen." 

Pederasty.  The  young  New  Hebrideans,  who  come 
to  be  hired,  have  a  difficulty  in  finding  at  Noumea 
any  opportunities  of  satisfying  their  amorous  passions. 
The  women  of  their  own  race  prefer  the  White  man, 
as  being  not  only  more  pleasant,  but  more  profitable. 
As  for  getting  White  women,  they  might  as  soon  find 
a  needle  in  a  bottle  of  hay.  The  New  Hebridean  youth 
has  not  a  farthing  of  money,  and  is  not  likely  to  be 
loved  for  his  own  sake,  for  he  is  an  object  of  disgust 
even  to  the  female  freed  prisoner,  or  the  wife  of  the 
old  convict,  though  they  are  not  remarkable  for  delicate 
sentiments.  As  a  matter  of  course,  this  state  of  things 
leads  to  pederasty  amongst  the  hired  men,  as  it  does 
also  with  the  New  Caledonian.  But  it  is  not  a  morbid 
mental  depravity,  like  that  of  the  Annamite,  who  is 
ready  to  lend  himself  to  any  form  of  erotic  turpitude. 
It  seemed  to  me  (though  I  cannot,  however,  affirm  it 


314  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS    OF 

with  absolute  certainty)  that  these  unnatural  acts  were 
performed  without  any  of  the  refinements  of  lust  prac- 
tised in  the  Far  East.  The  New  Hebridean  acts 
according  to  the  old  French  proverb,  "  If  you  can't 
get  thrushes,  you  must  eat  blackbirds."  And  he  eats 
his  blackbird  simply  roasted,  without  any  sauce,  or 
even  a  bit  of  fat  to  grease  the  dish.  He  simply  satis- 
fies his  amorous  inclinations  on  the  mutual  aid  system. 
He  is  very  far  from  boasting  about  it,  and  it  is  only 
with  great  difficulty  that  he  can  be  made  to  avow 
the  truth.  I  was  never  able  to  obtain  a  confession 
without  the  bait  of  a  bit  of  silver  and  the  promise  of 
absolute  secrecy. 

Bestiality  with  a  She-goat.  Taylor,  the  Enghsh 
writer  on  Medical  Jurisprudence,  ^  fi-om  whom  we  have 
already  had  occasion  to  quote,  speaking  of  the  unna- 
tural intercourse  of  man  with  animals,  points  out  that 
to  this  peculiar  form  of  sexual  aberration  the  Germans  ^ 
apply  the  term  "Sodomy,"  while  specialists  in  Eng- 
land and  France  more  commonly  give  to  it  the  name 
of  "  Bestiality. "  Trials  for  this  crime  perpetrated  with 
animals,  such  as  the  cow,  the  mare,  and  the  she-ass, 
are  not  unfrequent  at  the  assizes.  They  are  not  reported, 
and  do  not  therefore  attract  any  public  notice.  The 
criminals  are  commonly  youths  or  men  employed  to 
look  after  the  animals.  In  most  of  these  cases  the 
criminal  has  been  caught  flagrante  delicto — or  under 
such  circumstances  as  to  leave  no  doubt  of  the  attempt, 
if  not  of  the  completion,  of  the  act  of  unnatural  in- 
tercourse. 

'  The  Principles  and  Practice  of  Medical  Jurisprudence,  by  the 
late  Alfd.  S.  Taylor,  4th  edit,  by  Thos.  Stevenson,  M.D.,  Lond., 
Churchill,   1894. 

'  Casper,   Gerichtl.  Med.,  vol.    i,  p.    180. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  31S 

"  Medical  evidence  is  seldom  required  to  sustain  the 
prosecution.  There  may  be,  however,  circumstances 
which  can  only  be  properly  interpreted  by  an  expert. 
The  hair  of  the  animal  may  be  found  on  the  perpe- 
trator, or  marks  of  blood  or  feculent  matter  upon  his 
dress,  and  in  such  cases  analysis,  or  the  microscope, 
may  enable  a  witness  to  express  an  opinion  in  proof 
or  disproof  of  the  charge.  In  one  case  tried  at  the 
assizes,  where  a  man  was  charged  with  having  had  un- 
natural intercourse  with  a  cow,  the  prosecution  was 
able  to  show  that  some  short  coloured  hairs  found  on 
the  prisoner's  person  resembled  those  of  the  animal. 
In  another  case,  ^  the  editor  found  the  peculiar  coloured 
hairs  of  a  mare  upon  the  prisoner's  clothes,  and  sper- 
matozoa on  his  trouser-flap. 

"  The  medical  jurists  of  Germany  have  taken  a  great 
interest  in  cases  of  sodomy  and  bestiaUty  ;  and  in  some 
of  their  reports  they  have  contrived  to  throw  an  air 
of  science  over  the  details  of  this  detestable  crime. 
Kutter  has  published  an  elaborate  report  of  a  case  of 
this  kind,  ^  in  which  a  sub-officer  was  charged  by  his 
captain  with  unnatural  intercourse  with  a  mare,  and  in 
support  of  the  charge  Kutter  was  able  to  furnish  good 
microscopical  evidence.  The  captain,  on  entering  the 
stable  suddenly,  found  the  prisoner  in  the  act  of  moving 
away  from  the  stall  of  the  animal.  Kutter  was  called 
to  examine  the  mare,  and  found  some  small  abrasions 
about  the  genitals  of  the  animal,  and  a  slight  escape 
of  bloody  mucus  from  these  parts.  The  prisoner  will- 
ingly submitted  himself  to  examination.  Kutter  found 
some  stains  of  blood  on  his  skirt;  and  on  the  penis 
between  the  prepuce  and  the  glans,  there  were  a  num- 

'  Reg.  v.  Brinkley,   Lincoln  Ass.,  Ap.,    1887. 
*  "  Fleischlicher  Vermischung  mit  einem  Thiere." 


316  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

ber  of  short,  dark,  pointed  hairs.  The  prisoner  accounted 
for  them  by  saying  that  the  night  before  he  had  had 
connection  with  some  woman,  Kutter  examined  the 
hairs  carefully  by  the  aid  of  a  microscope,  and  found 
them  to  be  shorter,  thicker,  and  more  pointed  than 
those  of  a  human  being.  They  were  also  coarse,  and 
less  transparent.  Comparing  them  with  hairs  gently 
rubbed  off  the  back  part  of  the  mare,  they  exactly 
corresponded  in  colour,  form,  and  length,  so  as  to  leave 
no  doubt  on  his  mind  that  there  has  been  unnatural 
intercourse.  It  was  impossible  to  say  with  any  certainty 
that  the  blood-stains  on  the  shirt  were  produced  by  the 
blood  of  the  animal.  This,  however,  was  not  a  neces- 
sary part  of  the  evidence.  ^  On  these  facts  Kutter 
gave  an  opinion  that  the  prisoner  had  been  guilty  of 
unnatural  intercourse  with  the  mare." 

I  will  conclude  by  noting  a  case  of  bestiality 
committed  by  a  New  Hebridean  with  a  she-goat.  At 
the  request  of  the  master  of  this  new  sort  of  Corydon, 
I  examined  both  the  animal  and  the  culprit, — who 
could  not  deny  the  charge,  having  been  caught  in  the 
act  by  his  master.  The  goat  showed  a  well-marked 
anal  infundibulum,  very  similar  to  that  of  professional 
passive  sodomites.  The  anus  was  much  dilated,  and 
admitted  two  fingers,  though,  in  its  normal  condition, 
the  anus  of  the  goat  is  very  constricted,  the  dung  of 
the  animal  being  in  small  round  balls.  The  genital 
parts  of  the  man  presented  all  the  marks  of  active 
sodomy.  The  yard,  which  was  normal  as  to  length 
(sf  to  6  inches  in  erection)  was  very  thick  at  the  base, 
where  it  was  nearly  two  inches  in  diameter,  but  it 
diminished  gradually  up  to  the  gland,  where  the  diameter, 
at   the  crown,  was  hardly  more  than  half  that  of  the 

'  Horn's  "  Vierteljahrsschr.,"   1865,   i,  p.   160. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  317 

base,  and  the  crown  was  further  strangled  by  a  rather 

well-pronounced   phimosis.      It   terminated    in  a  point, 

and  the  "  ring  "  was  but  slightly  marked.     Altogether 

it    was  more  like  the  penis  of  an  animal  than  that  of 

a  man.     The  testicles  were  developed,  and  showed  that 

the  man  often  indulged  in  copulation.   Having  purposely 

asked  if  he  had  never  tried  to  enter  the  natural  way 

when  the  goat  was  "  on  heat",  I  received  the  following 

reply   in    the    "  Biche-la-Mer"    language,   which   is  the 

patois   of   Polynesia :    "  Me   have    no ;    belong  me  cue 

too    large."      This  naively  cynical  response,  devoid  of 

all  artifice,  convinced  me,  in  fact,  that  it  was  impossible 

for  the  human  organ,  on  account  of  its  great  difference 

from  the  genital  organ  of  the  he-goat,  to  enter  the  long 

but   narrow  vulva  of  the  she-goat.  ^ 

Artificial  Hypospadias  of  the  Natives  of  Santo. 

I  found  a  native  of  Santo  with  an  artificial  hypospadia, 
performed  at  the  age  of  puberty  by  the  Takata.  With 
a  well-sharpened  piece  of  quartz,  the  urethra  is  slit 
from  the  gland  to  the  root  of  the  bag,  the  penis  being 
first  fastened  to  a  piece  of  bark.  The  wound  is  covered 
with  a  bandage  of  fine  bark,  after  being  dressed  with 
some  herbs  chewed  by  the  Takata.  This  curious 
operation  compels  those  who  have  been  thus  mutilated 
to  stoop  down  to  make  water.  In  a  state  of  erection, 
the  member  becomes  large  and  flat,  and  when  emit- 
ting, the  sperm  dribbles  out  over  the  bag.  The  native, 
who  exhibited  this  curious  mutilation,  told  me  that  he 
was  not  the  only  one,  and  that  it  was  not  unfrequently 

*  Compare  also  pages  159 — 160  of  vol.  I.  Gli  Amori  degli  Uotnini, 
by  Cav.  Paolo  Mantegazza,  MilaDO,  1892,  for  two  other  curious  cases 
of  this  strange  lewdness.  One  can  hardly  dignify  it  with  the  name  of 
passion. 


318  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

performed  by  the  Takata  on  persons  specially  named 
by  the  Chief.  He  could  not  explain  to  me  the  reason 
for  this  singular  custom. 

It  is  certain,  however,  that  it  comes  from  Australia 
(the  original  cradle  of  the  New  Hebridean  race),  where 
it  is  practised  in  the  central  and  western  parts  of  the 
country. 

The  natives  of  Santo  are  almost  completely  pure 
Melanesians. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Six  weeks  at  Tahiti.  — Panoramic  view  of  Tahiti  at  sun-rise. — 
Anthropological  characteristics  of  the  Tahitian  Maori  race. — 
Beauty  of  the  Maori  race.  —  The  portrait  of  Rarahu. 

Six  Weeks  at  Tahiti.  On  leaving  New  Caledonia 
to  return  to  France,  I  obtained,  as  an  unexpected 
favour,  permission  to  make  the  journey  at  my  own 
expense  via  Tahiti  and  America,  instead  of  returning 
on  the  sailing  transport  vessel.  The  Government,  how- 
ever, paid  me  a  sum  equal  to  what  my  voyage  on 
the  transport  vessel  would  have  cost.  But  I  was 
anxious  not  to  lose  such  an  opportunity  of  visiting  the 
famous  New  Cytherea,  so  much  belauded  by  the  old 
navigators.  Thanks  to  the  kindness  of  the  heads  of 
the  Naval  Department,  I  was  also  able  to  obtain  a 
furlough,  and  remain  six  weeks  at  Papeete,  the  capital 
of  Tahiti. 

One  of  my  colleagues,  Doctor  S***,  who  had  been 
three  years  in  the  colony,  undertook  to  serve  as  my 
guide,  and  owing  to  his  kindness  in  putting  his  notes 
at  my  disposal,  and  to  the  information  of  various  kinds 
which  he  procured  for  me,  my  voyage  to  Tahiti  was 
not  devoid  of  profit. 

Panoramic    View    of   Tahiti    at   Sun-rise.     The 

three-masted  sailing  vessel,  which  carried  me  from 
Noumea  to  Papeete,  very  luckily,  arrived  within  sight 
of  land  at  evening  and  did  not  enter  the  harbour  till 

SM 


320  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

next  morning.  I  was  therefore  able  to  enjoy  the  never 
to  be  forgotten  spectacle  of  sun-rise  when  only  a  few 
miles  from  the  coast  of  Tahiti. 

At  the  moment  when  the  shades  of  night  gave  place 
to  the  grey  hues  of  dawn,  the  New  Cytherea  rose  to 
view,  and  proudly  raised  its  enormous  pyramidal  sil- 
houette,— a  gigantic  mass  of  a  uniform  dark  blue  tint, 
crowned  by  Mount  Orohena,  about  7500  feet  high. 
The  great  valleys  of  the  island  formed  deep  shadows 
on  the  sides  of  the  mountains,  the  summits  of  which 
began  to  be  gradually  lighted  up.  The  bright  light 
of  day  spread  rapidly,  and  the  delighted  eye  watched 
undreamed  of  effects  of  colour,  until  the  orb  of  day, 
rising  like  a  golden  disk  behind  the  mountains,  made 
their  peaks  glitter  like  diamond  points. 

The  short  duration  of  twilight,  which,  in  the  tropics, 
precedes  the  daylight  by  only  a  few  minutes,  made 
the  spectacle  seem  like  a  panorama  which  was  being 
slowly  unrolled.  Moorea,  the  sister  island  of  Tahiti, 
with  its  mountain  tops  rising  into  the  blue  sky,  formed 
a  delightful  background  of  a  pinkish  grey  tint.  The 
eye,  used  to  the  wild  scenery  of  New  Caledonia,  with 
its  arid  mountains,  rests  with  pleasure  on  the  rich 
foliage  of  Tahiti.  Beyond  the  girdle  of  reefs,  on  the 
edge  of  its  pretty  harbour,  Papeete,  the  capital  of  the 
island,  lies  gracefully  like  a  lizard  in  the  sun.  From 
a  distance  you  can  hardly  see  more  than  the  church, 
and  a  few  houses  on  the  shore ;  all  the  rest  is  hidden 
under  a  luxuriant  vegetation.  I  mentally  compared 
this  picturesque  site  with  Saint  Louis  at  Senegal;  the 
one,  a  charming  nest  of  verdure;  the  other,  a  dull 
glare  of  white  walls. 

A  boat  took  me  to  land.  Some  narrow  streets, 
planted  with  trees,  forming  a  roof  of  foliage  over  the 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  321 

traveller's  head,  little,  low  houses,  with  red  tiled  roofs, 
and  surrounded  by  gardens  fiUed  with  flowers  and 
foliage, — such  is  Papeete.  In  this  delightful  town  I 
spent  a  few  weeks,  and  the  memory  of  it  still  makes 
my  heart  beat  with  pleasure.  And  yet  Tahiti  is  no 
longer  the  New  Cytherea  of  de  Bougainville, — the 
paradise  of  love. 

Anthropological  Characteristics  of  the  Tahitian 
Maori  Race.  The  Tahitian  Maori  race  is  a  product 
of  the  crossing  of  three  races, — white,  yellow,  and  black 
(the  Melanesian), — the  two  former  markedly  dominating 
over  the  latter.  The  tint  tends  generally  to  a  reddish 
white,  and  ranges  from  light  brown  chocolate  (the 
darkest  shade)  to  the  warm,  slightly  olive  tint  of  the 
Spaniards  of  Andalusia.  In  fact,  reader,  if  you  have 
never  seen  a  Vahine  (a  woman  of  Tahiti)  nothing  can 
give  you  a  better  idea  of  her  than  the  Andalusian 
with  the  brown  breasts,  of  Alfred  de  Musset.  The 
almost  white  tint  belongs  exclusively  to  the  families 
of  the  Chiefs,  who  have  formed  fewer  mesalliances 
with  the  Black  race,  which  came  from  Australia, 
evidently.  In  1767  the  navigator,  WaUis,  found  at 
Maravai  some  Chiefs  almost  white,  and  with  red  hair. 
Generally,  in  the  Maoris,  the  skull  is  enlarged  at  the 
level  of  the  parietal  bones,  and  its  shape  from  front 
to  rear,  resembles  that  of  the  keel  of  a  ship.  The 
hair  is  black,  fine,  abundant,  sometimes  curly,  but 
never  woolly.  It  shades  a  projecting  forehead,  and 
eyes  that  are  slightly  oblique,  and  always  very  large, 
denoting,  in  the  man,  pride;  and,  in  the  woman, 
voluptuousness.  Cheekbones  slightly  projecting,  a  nose 
sometimes  flat,  a  large  mouth  with  sensuous  lips  of  a 
dark  ruby  red,  magnificent  teeth,  a  not  very  prominent 


322  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS    OF 

chin,  covered,  in  the  case  of  the  men,  with  a  light 
black  beard,  a  long  neck,  large  shoulders  and  breast, 
a  fine  waist,  a  slim  form,  well-proportioned  limbs,  with 
fine  and  long  extremities,  complete,  in  the  man,  a  most 
imposing  ensemble. 

Beauty  of  the  Maori  Race.  Truly  the  Tane 
(Tahitian)  of  from  twenty  to  twenty-five  years  of  age, 
is  a  splendid  fellow,  and,  in  my  opinion,  one  of  the 
most  perfect  specimens  of  human  beauty.  If  the  Greek 
sculptors  had  but  known  him,  what  masterpieces  of 
art  they  would  have  bequeathed  us.  A  characteristic 
that  is  common  enough  amongst  the  young  Tanes  is 
a  development,  sometimes  fairly  considerable,  of  the 
buttocks,  which  are  generally  rounded,  and  of  a  slightly 
feminine  shape,  though  the  body,  in  its  entirety,  presents 
an  appearance  of  strength  combined  with  grace.  The 
antique  statue  of  the  Indian  Bacchus  might  serve  as 
a  type  of  many  of  the  Tanes.  We  may  remark  that 
the  flat  nose  is  not  a  natural  characteristic,  and  is  due 
to  the  fact  that  the  Tahitian  nurses  had  formerly  the 
habit  of  crushing  the  cartilage  of  the  noses  of  the 
young  children.  The  younger  generation,  on  the  con- 
trary, have  the  nose  aquiline,  and  of  a  very  regular 
shape.  In  the  Vahine,  the  head  is  smaller  than  that 
of  the  man ;  the  breasts  have  a  splendid  curve,  slightly 
arched,  of  an  average  size,  with  small  nipples  standing 
out  straight  in  front.  The  waist  is  slender,  the  belly, 
the  haunches,  and  the  buttocks,  are  rounded  and  beau- 
tifully proportioned,  the  thighs  plump  and  well  fur- 
nished, the  calves  and  ankles  splendid.  The  general 
appearance  of  some  Vahines  of  from  eighteen  to  twenty 
years  calls  to  mind  the  antique  Venus  of  Aries. 

To   whom   shall   the   prize   of  beauty  be  given?     If 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  323 

the  Tane  attracts  our  gaze  by  a  beauty  which  is 
majestic,  though  still  remaining  graceful,  and  which 
makes  him  resemble  the  Indian  Bacchus,  the  Vahine 
fascinates  the  traveller  by  a  languorous  charm,  and 
there  shoots  from  her  black,  gazelle-like  eyes,  soft 
glances  which  are  at  once  both  sweet  and  impudent, — 
a  seductive  grace  that  promises  every  sort  of  volup- 
tuous pleasure.  A  Vahine  of  sixteen,  leaving  her  bath, 
might  serve  as  a  model  for  Venus  rising  from  the  sea, 
her  long  hair  spread  over  her  shoulders  like  a  royal 
mantle,  and  often  falling  below  the  bust.  The  pubes 
is  well  furnished  with  soft  hair,  in  colour,  black,  dark 
chestnut,  and  sometimes  red,  for  there  are  golden  red 
blondes  amongst  the  Vahines. 

The  Portrait  of  Rarahu.  I  have  tried  my  best  to 
describe  the  nature  of  the  beauties  of  the  Tahitian  race, 
but  I  feel  how  powerless  my  pen  is  to  accomplish  the 
task,  and  I  have  sought  the  help  of  that  of  Pierre  Loti. 
The  portrait  of  his  mistress,  little  Rarahu,  is  a  perfect 
jewel,  and  the  reader  will  no  doubt  be  pleased  that  I 
reproduce  it  here. 

"  Rarahu  was  a  tiny  creature  unlike  any  other, 
though  she  was  a  perfect  type  of  the  Maori  race  which 
peoples  the  Polynesian  archipelago,  and  which  is  deemed 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  in  the  world ;  a  distinct  and 
mysterious  race  the  origin  of  which  is  unknown.  Rarahu 
had  eyes  of  a  russet  black,  full  of  exotic  languor,  and 
of  a  wheedling  softness,  like  those  of  a  kitten  when 
you  caress  it ;  her  eyelashes  were  so  long,  and  so 
black,  that  you  might  have  taken  them  for  painted 
feathers.  Her  nose  was  short  and  small,  like  those  of 
some  of  the  Arab  girls ;  her  mouth,  a  little  thicker  and 
a    little  wider  than  the  classic  type,  had  deep  comers 


324  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

of  a  delightful  contour.  In  laughing;  she  showed  all 
of  a  set  of  teeth  which  were  a  trifle  large,  and  white 
as  white  enamel, — teeth,  which  the  years  had  not  had 
time  to  polish  much,  and  which  still  retained  the  light 
stria;  of  childhood.  Her  hair,  which  was  perfumed 
with  sandal  wood,  was  long,  straight,  and  perhaps  a 
trifle  coarse;  it  fell  in  heavy  masses  on  her  round, 
naked  shoulders.  A  uniformly  tawny  tint,  tending 
to  redbrick,  like  that  of  the  light  terra-cottas  of  old 
Etruria,  spread  over  all  her  body,  from  the  top  of  her 
forehead  to  the  tips  of  her  toes. 

"Rarahu  was  not  tall,  but  admirably  made,  and 
splendidly  proportioned ;  her  breast  was  pure  and 
polished,  her  arms  perfect.  Round  each  ankle  was 
a  light  blue  tattoo  mark,  imitating  a  bracelet;  on  the 
lower  lip  three  little  blue  transversal  rays,  almost 
imperceptible,  like  those  of  the  women  of  the  Marquesas 
Islands;  and  upon  her  forehead  a  still  paler  tattoo 
mark,  in  the  form  of  a  diadem.  That  which,  above 
all,  characterised  her  race,  was  the  excessive  closeness 
of  her  prominent  eyes,  as  in  all  the  Maoris ;  when  she 
was  gay  and  laughing,  this  gave  to  her  childish  face 
the  cunning  look  of  a  young  marmoset ;  but  when 
she  was  serious  or  sad,  there  was  something  about 
her  that  you  could  not  define  better  than  by  these 
two  words, — a  Polynesian  grace." 


CHAPTER  X. 

Manners  and  customs  of  the  Tahitians.  —  Social  condition  of  the 
ancient  Tahitians. —  The  Manahune — Religion  arid  the  priests. — 
Origin  of  the  Tahitian  race.  —  The  language. —  The  Tahitian 
Arii  is  an  Aryan  like  the  old  Greek. — The  priest's  part  in  Tahitian 
civilisation.  —  The  Marae'.  —  Human  sacrifices. —  The  end  of  Tahi- 
tian civilisation. — Habitations.  —  Baths.  —  Food.  —  Ainuraa. — Pub- 
lic festivals. —  Costumes. 

Although  this  chapter  has  only  an  indirect  connec- 
tion with  sexual  passions  and  habits,  it  seemed  to  me 
that  it  would  not  be  altogether  useless;  however,  I 
will  be  brief. 

Social  Condition  of  the  Ancient  Tahitians.   The 

dynasty  of  Pomare  established  by  force  its  authority 
over  Tahiti  and  the  neighbouring  isles.  When  Tahiti 
was  discovered,  only  one  Chief, — Oamma,  the  husband 
of  Queen  Oberea — possessed  the  "  red  maro",  or 
insignia  of  royal  power.  The  government  was  theocratic; 
the  royal  race  descended  from  the  God-King,  Hiro. 
Under  the  sovereign,  are  the  princes  of  the  royal 
blood ;  under  the  princes,  the  lords,  divided  into  two 
categories,  and  classed,  according  to  their  order  of 
pre-eminence,  into  Arii  (principal  chiefs),  and  Raatira; 
the  first  have  nearly  all  the  powder,  and  the  second 
mere  empty  honours. 

The    Manahune.     Under  these  was  the  Manahune 
(man  of  the  people)  who  possessed  nothing  of  his  own. 

323 


326  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

His  heritage  was  subject  to  certain  feudal  rights,  but 
he  could,  nevertheless,  transmit  it  intact  to  his  children 
as  a  sort  of  permanent  usufruct.  He  could  enter  into 
the  sect  of  Arrioys,  of  which  I  shall  speak  more  fully- 
later  on. 

Religion  and  the  Priests.  Religion  played  an 
important  part  amongst  the  old  Tahitians.  Alongside 
of  royalty  and  the  nobility,  was  the  sacred  caste  of  the 
priests,  possessing  considerable  privileges.  Without 
entering  on  long  dissertations,  I  will  only  say,  that 
the  old  religion  of  the  Tahitians  resembled  that  of  the 
Greeks,  and  showed  the  same  characteristics.  There 
was  the  same  pantheism,  the  same  anthropomorphism 
of  the  inferior  gods,  the  same  worship  of  the  forces 
of  Nature.  The  creator  of  the  world  was  Taoroa, 
whose  cosmic  arrangements  seem  to  have  been 
distinguished  by  simplicity  and  energy.  Man  must  die, 
but  matter  is  eternal.  The  Divinities  are  of  two 
orders;  the  Atorias,  or  great  gods,  who  rule  men's 
actions,  but  do  not  have  to  judge  their  morality.  To 
enumerate  all  their  names  here,  would  take  too  long, 
but  I  find  amongst  the  Tahitian  gods,  an  Esculapius, 
a  Hercules,  a  Mars,  a  Mercury,  an  Apollo,  etc.  Below 
these  high  gods,  are  inferior  gods,  who  may  be  com- 
pared to  the  Naiads,  Nymphs,  Dryads,  Fauns,  etc.,  of 
the  old  Greek  mythology.  The  gods  could  assume 
human  form,  when  they  wished  to  satisfy  their  passions ; 
— exactly  like  the  Greek  Jupiter.  Finally,  in  the 
lowest  rank,  we  find  the  Oromatouas,  domestic  gods, 
or  lares,  absolutely  identical  with  the  lares  and  penates 
of  the  Romans.  This  resemblance  of  the  Tahitian 
religion  to  that  of  the  ancient  Greeks  would  seem  to 
indicate  a  common  origin. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  327 

I  have  said  above,  that  the  Tahitians  were  the 
outcome  of  three  races;  the  white,  yellow,  and  black. 
The  first  is  almost  pure  in  the  case  of  the  kings,  the 
princes,  and  the  Arii.  In  the  Raatira,  the  yellow  race 
predominates.  The  Raatira  were  the  first  conquerors 
of  the  aborigines,  and  were  subdued  in  their  turn  by 
the  Arii,  who  left  them  barren  honours  and  empty 
titles,  but  took  away  from  them,  in  reality,  all  their 
power.  The  Manahune  has  more  black  blood  than 
the  nobles,  although  this  black  blood  has  been  greatly 
ameliorated  by  an  admixture  of  yellow  blood,  and  a 
little  white  blood. 

Origin  of  the  Tahitian  Race.  So  much  being 
understood,  anthropology,  the  religion,  and  the  language 
will  enable  us  to  discover  the  secret  of  the  origin  of 
the  Maori  race. 

The  Tahitian  language  is  at  once  soft,  sonorous,  and 
harmonious,  and  by  its  grammar,  its  elegance,  and  its 
accentuation,  reminds  one  of  Greek,  though  of  course 
much  less  perfect.  To  this  opinion,  Edward  B.  Tylor,  the 
distinguished  Oxford  anthropologist,  I  consider  gives 
his  support  by  the  following  passage:  —  "Language, 
appearing  as  an  art  in  full  vigour  among  rude  tribes, 
already  displays  the  adaptation  of  child-like  devices 
in  self-expressive  sound  and  pictorial  metaphor,  to  utter 
thoughts  as  complex  and  abstruse  as  savage  minds 
demand  speech  for.  When  it  is  considered  how  far 
the  development  of  knowledge  depends  on  full  and 
exact  means  of  expressing  thought,  is  it  not  a  pregnant 
consideration  that  the  language  of  civilised  men  is  but 
the  language  of  savages,  more  or  less  improved  in 
structure,  a  good  deal  extended  in  vocabulary,  made 
more    precise    in    the    dictionary    definition    of  words? 


328  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF 

The  development  of  language  between  its  savage  and 
cultured  stages  has  been  made  in  its  details,  scarcely  in 
its  principle.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  half  the 
vast  defect  of  language  as  a  method  of  utterance,  and 
half  the  vast  defect  of  thought  as  determined  by  the 
influence  of  language,  are  due  to  the  fact  that  speech 
is  a  scheme  worked  out  by  the  rough  and  ready 
application  of  material  metaphor  and  imperfect  analogy, 
in  ways  fitting  rather  the  barbaric  education  of  those 
who  formed  it,  than  our  own.  Language  is  one  of 
those  intellectual  departments  in  which  we  have  gone 
too  little  beyond  the  savage  stage,  but  are  still  as  it 
were  hacking  with  stone  celts  and  tWirling  laborious 
friction-fire."^  Besides  the  singular  and  plural  numbers, 
the  Maori  possesses,  like  Greek,  the  dual,  which  is 
unknown  to  European  tongues.  The  language  of  a 
people  is  the  mark  of  its  state  of  civilisation.  We  may 
then  compare  the  Tahitian  civilisation  to  that  of  the 
ancient  Greeks,  and  by  the  connection  existing  between 
the  languages  and  religions,  assign  to  them  both  a 
common  origin. 

Consequently  it  is  easy  to  trace  the  origin  of  the 
Tahitian  race.  The  autochthone  was  the  Melanesian 
Negro  of  Australia:  he  was  conquered,  at  a  very 
remote  epoch,  by  men  of  a  yellow  race,  evidently 
Malays.  These  latter  partly  allied  themiselves  to  the 
conquered  people  and  formed  the  earliest  race  of 
nobles,  those  of  the  Raatira.  Finally  the  White,  the 
last  conqueror,  came,  and  founded, — like  the  Norman 
in  England, — a  superior  hierarchy,  a  select  caste  (that 
of  the  Arii),  which  forced  its  religion  and  language  on 
the  conquered  people.  But  the  language  has  become 
corrupted  by  being  mixed  with  that  of  the  conquered 

*  Primitive  Culture,  third  edit.  London,  Murray,  1891,  vol.  H,  p.  445. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  329 

people,  just  as  French  is  but  a  corruption  of  Latin ; 
and  English,  a  mixture  of  Saxon  and  old  Norman 
French. 

The  close  relationship  between  the  Maori  and  the 
ancient  Greek  being  thus  established,  it  naturally 
follows  that  the  two  races  must  be  derived  from  one 
common  stock. 

The  Tahitian  Arii  is  an  Aryan,  like  the  Old 
Greek.  Greek  civilisation  is  the  daughter  of  Hindoo 
civiUsation,  and  India  is  really  the  cradle  of  the  civilised 
world.  Philology  and  religion  will  prove  this  assertion. 
The  names  of  the  gods  of  the  Greek  mythology  are, 
in  fact,  almost  pure  Sanscrit,  and  are  nothing  but 
translations  of  the  titles  given  to  the  Hindoo  gods. 
Hercules  is  in  Sanscrit  Hora-Kala,  the  hero  of  battles ; 
Jupiter,  in  Sanscrit  Zu-pitri,  is  the  father  of  heaven, 
or  Zeus-pttri,  and  became  the  Zeus  of  the  Greeks,  and 
the  Jehovah  of  the  Hebrews;  Pallas  is  in  Sanscrit 
Pala-sa,  the  goddess  who  protects ;  Minerva  is  in  Sans- 
crit Ma-nara-va,  she  who  supports  the  brave;  Bellona 
is  in  Sanscrit  Bala-na,  warlike  strength;  Neptune  is  in 
Sanscrit  Na-patana,  he  who  masters  the  fury  of  the 
waves;  Mars,  the  God  of  War,  is  in  Sanscrit  Mri,  he 
who  deals  death ;  Pluto,  the  God  of  Hell,  is  in  Sanscrit 
Plushta,  he  who  strikes  by  fire;  Orestes,  celebrated 
for  his  madness,  is  in  Sanscrit  0-rah-sata,  doomed  to 
misfortune;  Pylades,  his  friend,  is  in  Sanscrit /<7-/(r7-</(!7, 
he  who  consoles  by  his  friendship;  Centaur  is  in 
Sanscrit  Ken-iura,  a  man-horse.  But  here  I  will  stop, 
though  I  could  run  through  the  entire  mythology  in 
the  same  way. 

Let  us  take  the  names  of  the  peoples  of  the  Aryan 
race,     whose    migrations     are    shown    by    etymology. 


330  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

The  Hellenes,  the  ancient  Greeks,  are  in  Sanscrit 
Hela-na,  warrior-worshippers  of  Hela,  the  Moon.  In 
the  Tahitian  language,  the  moon  is  called  Hina  /  The 
Italians,  a  name  which  comes  from  Italus,  the  son  of 
the  Trojan  hero,  are  in  Sanscrit  Itala,  men  of  low  caste ; 
the  Celts,  the  first  conquerors  of  almost  the  whole  of 
Europe,  are  in  Sanscrit  Kalla-ta,  the  invading  chiefs; 
the  Gauls  are  in  Sanscrit  Ga-la-ta,  the  people  who 
march  conquering;  the  Belgians,  in  Sanscrit,  Ba-la-ja, 
the  children  of  the  brave;  the  Scandinavians,  in  Sanscrit, 
Skanda-nava,  worshippers  of  Skanda,  the  god  of  battles ; 
the  Alemanni  (Germans),  in  Sanscrit,  Alamanu,  the 
free  men ;  finally  Ireland,  which  the  poets  call  "  Erin 
the  green  " ,  is  in  Sanscrit  Erin,  rocks  surrounded  by 
salt  water. 

I  am  positive  that  there  would  be  found  in  the  Tahitian 
language  many  words  derived  from  the  Sanscrit,  and 
that  the  White  Arii,  the  invader  of  the  island  of 
Tahiti,  who  has  conquered,  and  then  peopled,  the  other 
large  islands  of  Polynesia,  New  Zealand,  the  Hawaii 
Islands,  etc.,  is  an  Aryan  of  pure  extraction,  the  brother 
of  the  Aryan  who  conquered  India  and  Europe. 

The  Priest's  Place  in  Tahitian  Civilisation.    The 

caste  of  priests,  like  that  of  the  Brahmins  of  India,  and 
the  bonzes  of  Cambodia,  proudly  maintained  its  privileges 
against  the  king  and  nobles.  No  people  in  the  world, 
not  even  the  Romans,  allowed  the  ministers  of  their 
gods  greater  importance.  In  peace  or  war,  no  acts  of 
political  or  civil  life  occurred  without  their  interference. 
The  person  of  the  priest  (Faaoura-Poure)  was  sacred, 
and  the  sacerdotal  authority  hereditary,  like  that  of 
the  Brahmins  of  India ;  their  power  extended  even  to 
life  and  death.     They  were  the  guardians  of  traditions, 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  331 

the  historians  of  the  nation.  Below  the  priests,  was 
a  whole  hierarchy,  analogous  to  the  deacons  and  sub- 
deacons  of  the  Catholic  Church ;  and  also  the  Tiis,  who 
were  inspired  by  the  inferior  deities,  and  acted  as 
exorcists  and  sorcerers. 

I  shall  speak  of  the  Arrioys,  in  the  chapter  on  the 
perversions  of  sexual  passion. 

The  Marae,  or  sacred  temple,  offered  some  resem- 
blance to  the  altars  of  the  Gaulish  druids,  and  it  would 
even  be  possible  to  trace  a  curious  resemblance  between 
the  analogous  duties  of  the  Faaoura-Poure  and  the 
Druid,  in  their  respective  societies.  It  consisted  of  a 
parallelogram,  terminated  at  one  of  its  extremities  by 
a  pyramid  of  stone,  surrounded  by  sacred  trees.  A 
kind  of  wooden  platform,  mounted  on  four  legs,  formed 
the  fata  or  altar,  and  there  the  victim  was  offered, 
or  the  dead  body  of  the  chief  deposited.  In  the 
marae  were  to  be  seen, — cut  by  the  inexperienced 
chisel  of  some  Tahitian  sculptor,  —  the  toos,  or  images 
of  the  Atouas. 

Human  Sacrifices.  To  obtain  the  favour  of  the 
gods,  recourse  was  had  rather  often  to  human  sacrifices. 
Even  in  these  horrible  ceremonies,  the  mild  nature  of 
the  Tahitian  showed  itself,  and  the  unfortunate  victims 
designated  by  the  priests  were  killed  unexpectedly. 
At  the  time  when  cannibalism  prevailed,  the  victims 
were  eaten,  and  the  eye  was  the  favourite  morsel  of 
the  King,  from  whence  came  the  name  Aimata  (eat 
eye),  which  was  borne  by  many  persons  of  the  royal 
family.  Captain  Cook  was  present  at  a  human  sacrifice. 
But  they  ceased  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  cen- 
tury,   and    since,    in    1820,    Pomare    11.    abjured    the 


332  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS  OF 

religion  of  his  fathers,  the  old  Tahitian  religion  is  quite 
dead,  and  the  Maori  race  itself  is  dying  out. 

The  End  of  Tahitian  Civilisation.  All  this  feudal 
organisation  has  disappeared  under  the  influence  of 
European  civilisation,  represented  by  the  religious 
fanaticism  of  the  English  missionaries.  The  penal  and 
religious  code  of  Pomare  II.  was  drawn  out  by  English- 
men, who  endeavoured  to  bestow  British  manners  and 
customs  on  a  people  whose  civilisation  was  so  different 
from  that  of  prudish  Albion.  It  was  a  repetition  of 
the  marriage  of  the  cold  Saxon  carp  with  the  lascivious 
Maori  rabbit.  The  result  obtained  may  be  summed 
up  in  two  words,  hypocrisy  and  drunkenness.  In  the 
chapter  relating  to  the  sexual  passions  of  the  Tahitian 
race,  I  shall  more  fuUy  discuss  the  question  of  the 
influence  of  the  AngHcan  priest,  importer  of  Bibles, 
but  also  trafficker  in  gin.  Let  us  also  add  the  small 
and  great  pox,  with  which  the  European  has  presented 
the  Maoris. 

At  the  time  when  I  arrived  at  Tahiti,  the  old  Queen 
Pomare  had  died,  leaving  the  throne  to  her  second 
son,  who  took  the  title  of  Pomare  V.  To  spite  his 
wife,  an  English  half-breed,  Pomare  V.  ceded  his 
royal  rights  to  France,  and  Tahiti  has  now  become  a 
French  colony.  Loti  is  quite  correct  in  saying  that 
from  the  death  of  Queen  Pomare  dates  the  end  of 
Tahiti,  as  far  as  concerns  customs,  local  colour,  and 
the  strange  charms  of  an  island  that  the  French  navi- 
gator, de  Bougainville,  had  christened  New  Cytherea. 

Habitations.  The  Maori  does  not  live  in  a  dirty 
hut,  like  the  Kanaka  of  New  Caledonia,  or  the  New 
Hebrides.     His  house  is  a  large  rectangular  building, 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  333 

a  really  airy  cage,  with  bamboo  walls  hung  with  mats, 
and  the  roof  covered  with  "tiles"  made  of  the  pandanus 
or  the  cocoa-palm  leaf,  and  the  roof  ends  in  a  verandah. 
The  hut  stands  in  the  midst  of  a  large  enclosure,  the 
property  of  the  family,  and  under  the  shadow  of  cocoa- 
palms,  bread-fruit  trees,  and  mango  trees.  In  the  in- 
terior all  is  exquisitely  clean. 

Baths.  The  Maori  race  is  exceedingly  cleanly,  and 
might  give  a  lesson  in  this  respect  to  many  civilised 
Europeans.  To  bathe  in  cold  spring  water  every  day 
is  a  necessity  to  him,  and  in  the  shades  of  evening 
you  may  see  in  every  pool  of  every  brook, — which 
are  numerous  enough  in  the  valleys, — couples  of  bathers 
playing  joyously.  I  must  have  recourse  to  Loti  again, 
to  depict  the  grace  and  the  charm  of  the  Tahitian 
women  bathing. 

"  Turning  to  the  right  through  the  underwood,  we 
followed  for  half  an  hour  the  Apire  road,  and  then 
came  to  a  large  natural  pool  in  the  rock.  Into  this 
pool  of  Fataoua  falls  a  cascade  of  delightfully  cool 
running  water.  Here,  all  day  long  there  is  a  numerous 
gathering ;  on  the  grass  lie  some  of  the  fairest  damsels 
of  Papeete,  who  pass  the  hot  tropical  days  in  talking, 
singing,  sleeping,  or  swimming  and  diving  like  gold 
fish.  They  go  into  the  water  dressed  in  their  muslin 
tunic,  which  they  still  wear  whilst  they  sleep  after 
their  bath,  wet  as  it  is, — like  the  Naiads  of  old.  Sailors 
often  come  here  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  some  of 
the  girls." 

Food.  The  food  of  the  Tahitian  is  varied.  Fish 
constitutes  the  main  portion  of  the  nourishment.  It  is 
often  eaten  raw  with  tatoro,  a  sauce  composed  of  grated 


334  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF 

cocoa-nut,  fermented  with  sea-water  boiled  to  evapora- 
tion. In  this  food  there  are  two  powerful  aphrodisiacs, 
phosphorus,  and  sea  salt.  To  this  diet,  the  Maori  adds 
poultry,  and  on  grand  occasions,  pork.  As  vegetables 
he  has  the  yam,  the  taro,  and  the  sweet  batata.  He 
has  also  bread-fruit,  which  grows  everywhere,  and  the 
fei,  a  kind  of  wild  banana,  can  be  found  on  the  mountains. 
As  dessert,  he  possesses  every  variety  of  tropical  fruit ;  — 
oranges,  bananas,  mangoes,  pine-apples,  etc.,  which 
grow  wild.  All  the  blessings  of  heaven  are  showered 
upon  this  island,  and  man  has  nothing  to  do  but  take 
the  trouble  to  live.  I  would  ask  the  reader  to  remark 
how  rich,  abundant,  and  varied,  this  diet  is.  As  we 
shall  see  a  little  later,  it  is  not  without  its  influence 
on  the  amorous  vigour  of  the  Tahitian. 

The  Public  Festivals  of  the  Tahitians.  Every 
Saturday,  after  gathering  the  fei  in  the  mountains, 
friends  and  neighbours  assemble  at  a  social  gathering. 
Besides  these  private  gatherings,  there  are  celebrated, 
at  certain  periods  of  the  year,  in  every  district,  grand 
public  banquets,  called  amuraa.  They  are  veritable 
Gargantuan  feasts,  and  will  bear  comparison  with  our 
largest  public  banquets.  I  do  not  know  of  any  writer 
who  has  ever  dared  to  say  that  he  saw  a  dinner  of 
five  hundred  covers,  laid  in  a  village.  Everybody  sets 
to  work.  Yams,  taros,  feis,  and  7nagori,  are  heaped 
up  in  profusion ;  whole  herds  of  pigs,  and  hundreds  of 
fowls,  are  slaughtered,  and  roasted  in  the  open  air,  in 
front  of  enormous  fires. 

Costume.  The  Tahitian  Maori  looks  handsome  in 
his  simple  and  artistic  costume,  which  consists  of  a  white 
cotton    shirt,    or   vest,  falling  loosely  over  a  pareo, — a 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  335 

large  piece  of  cotton  stuff  of  a  large  pattern  and  bright 
colours,  which  is  draped  round  the  hips,  and  hangs  as 
low  as  the  middle  of  the  calf  of  the  leg,  and  replaces 
the  hideous  trousers  of  civilisation,  introduced  by  the 
English.  Dressed  in  this  costume,  the  young  Tane 
carries  his  head  high,  and  his  chest  stuck  out,  with  an 
easy,  manly,  and  proud  bearing. 

The  Vahines  wear  the  "■  gaule" ,—a.  long  robe  with- 
out any  waist,  fastened  under  the  breasts,  like  the  dress 
of  the  time  of  the  Directory.  On  the  head  is  a  light 
"straw"  hat,  made  of  the  fine  fibres  of  the  bsimboo; 
the  hair  falls  loosely  on  the  shoulders,  or  often  hangs 
down  to  the  thighs,  or  is  twisted  into  two  long  plaits 
which  hang  down  the  back,  a  la  Swiss  peasant  maiden. 

Tane  and  Vahine  are  alike  ignorant  of  the  use  of 
the  shoe,  that  instrument  of  torture  of  civihsed  man,  and 
their  feet  consequently  are  well  formed,  and  the  insteps 
as  arched  as  those  of  the  Andalusians.  The  Vahines 
wear  this  simple  toilet  with  ease  and  grace,  and  charm 
the  eye  by  their  lissom  bearing,  and  coquettish  air.  On 
fete  days,  and  the  evenings  of  the  upa-upa,  the  hat  is 
replaced  by  the  reva-reva,  bows  of  transparent  ribbon 
of  a  yellow  green  tint,  made  from  the  pith  of  the  cocoa- 
palm.  The  Vahine  fixes  in  her  hair  the  tiare  mtri,  a 
beautiful  white  flower,  the  scent  of  which  is  sweeter 
than  the  orange  flower.  Sometimes  she  perfumes  her 
hair  with  powdered  sandal  wood,  and  crowns  her  head 
with  a  wreath  of  foliage  interlaced  with  flowers.  When 
she  is  thus  attired,  the  dark  daughter  of  Tahiti  delights 
the  eye,  and  captivates  the  senses.  Unless  a  European 
is  physically  fitted  to  become  the  guardian  of  a  seraglio, 
it  would  hardly  be  possible  for  him  to  resist  the  se- 
ductions of  the  Vahine. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

Moral  characteristics  of  the  Tahitians.  —  Marriages. —  Woman's 
place  amongst  the  Maoris. — Births. — The  taboo.—  Adopted  children, 
—  Songs.-  The  hymeneal  chant. —  The  upa-upa,  or  lascivious 
dance  of  the  Tahitian  women. — A  upa-upa  in  the  interior  of 
the  island. — Diseases.  —  Rapid  e.xtinction  of  the  pure  Maori  race. 

Moral  Characteristics  of  the  Tahitians.  I  have 
spoken  of  the  beauty  of  the  Tahitians.  I  might  also 
mention  their  physical  strength,  for  the  Tane  is  an 
athlete,  as  vigorous  as  he  is  handsome.  Cook's  sailors 
were  easily  overthrown  at  wrestling  by  the  Tahitians, 
as  Cook  himself  confessed,  and  yet  it  is  well-known, 
that  of  all  the  European  races,  the  Anglo-Saxon  is 
that  in  which  all  species  of  physical  exercise,  especially 
wrestling  and  boxing,  are  most  held  in  honour.  Yet, 
with  all  his  great  physical  strength,  the  Tahitian  is 
mild,  and  good-natured.  These  qualities  had  led  him 
to  abolish  cannibalism,  before  the  island  was  discovered, 
and  he  spared  the  victims  of  the  human  sacrifices  as 
much  pain  as  possible,  by  killing  tliem  unexpectedly. 
The  old  Tahitian  was  a  bellicose  warrior.  European 
civilisation  has  made  him  peaceable,  but  nothing  has 
altered  his  light,  changeful  character.  The  Tahitian 
is  a  real  child,  joyous  and  capricious;  laughing  one 
moment  and  weeping  the  next,  without  any  reason. 
His  head  is  full  of  folly,  but  his  heart  is  sound.  He 
has  all  the  gay  and  careless  nature  of  the  Neapolitan 
lazzaroni,    but   he   never  uses  the  knife,  as  the  ItaUan 


UNTRODDEN  FIELDS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY.  337 

does.  Sun  and  fine  weather  make  him  gay  and 
joyful;  bad  weather  makes  him  sad  and  dreamy.  All 
the  dreams  and  fancies  of  imagination  appeal  to  his 
nature.  The  cold,  formal  Protestant  religion  has  not 
been  able  to  remove  his  belief  in  superstitions, — the 
last  trace  of  the  religion  of  his  forefathers ;  he  fears 
the  solitude  of  the  great  woods,  and  the  obscurity  of 
night,  for  he  is  afraid  of  meeting  the  Tupapan,  the 
shades  or  spirits  of  the  dead.  If  his  griefs  are  short 
but  lively,  his  gaiety,  on  the  other  hand,  is  wild  and 
contagious.  Above  all  and  before  all,  the  Tahitian 
Maori  loves  pleasure. 

Marriages.  It  is  important  to  remark  that  the 
Tahitian  priest,  whose  influence  was  formerly  so  con- 
siderable, never  interfered  in  marriages,  which  at  New 
Cytherea  have  always  .remained  the  manifestation  of 
the  formal  wishes  of  the  couple  united,  without  any 
religious  consecration.  Cook  describes,  however,  the 
Tahitian  marriage  ceremonies,  as  we  shall  see  later  on, 
when  I  come  to  speak  of  the  ancient  customs. 

Woman's  Place  in  the  Maori  Race.  If  the  Tane 
does  not  purchase  his  wife,  at  least  she  was  not  his 
equal,  amongst  the  old  Tahitians.  At  table  she  did 
not  eat  along  with  her  husband ;  she  could  not  be  a 
priestess;  admission  to  the  Marae  was  forbidden  to 
her.  The  daughters  of  the  royal  house  could,  however, 
inherit  the  throne.  The  Salic  law  has  never  been  in 
force  at  Tahiti,  but,  on  the  contrary,  descent  is  trans- 
mitted by  the  woman,  the  Tahitians  considering,  not 
without  reason,  that  though  a  man  was  certain  that 
he  came  out  of  his  mother's  womb,  he  was  not  sure 
who   his   male   parent   was,    and  the  famous  axiom  of 


338  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

Roman  law,  Pater  is  est  quern  nuptice  demonstrant 
(The  father  is  he  whom  marriage  demonstrates  to 
be  so)  has  never  been  applied  in  Tahiti. 

Births. — The  Taboo.  The  mother  of  a  newly-bom 
infant  became  taboo.  She  might  not  touch  anything 
with  her  hands  during  a  period  of  two  months,  and 
other  women  had  to  feed  her.  Under  these  circum- 
stances, one  consequence  of  the  taboo  was  to  prevent 
the  renewal  of  coition  before  the  woman's  organs  of 
generation  had  returned  to  their  normal  condition.  I 
have  shown,  in  the  case  of  the  New  Caledonian  Kanaka, 
what  serious  disorders  might  result  from  commencing 
copulation  too  soon  after  parturition. 

"  An  observer, "  says  Frazer,  '  Golden  Bough '  (vol. 
I,  page  1 68),  "who  knows  the  Maoris  well,  states 
'  Tapu  [taboo]  is  an  awful  weapon.  I  have  seen  a 
strong  young  man  die  the  same  day  he  was  tapued ; 
the  victims  die  under  it  as  though  their  strength  ran 
out  as  water.'  *  A  Maori  chiefs  tinder-box  was  once 
the  means  of  killing  several  persons ;  for  having  been 
lost  by  him,  and  found  by  some  men  who  used  it  to 
light  their  pipes,  they  died  of  fright  on  learning  to 
whom  it  had  belonged.  So,  too,  the  garments  of  a 
high  New  Zealand  chief  will  kill  anyone  else  who 
wears  them.  A  chief  was  observed  by  a  missionary 
to  throw  down  a  precipice  a  blanket  which  he  found 
too  heavy  to  carry.  Being  asked  by  the  missionary 
why  he  did  not  leave  it  on  a  tree  for  the  use  of  a 
future  traveller,  the  chief  replied  that  'it  was  the  fear 
of   its   being   taken    by    another  which  caused  him   to 

*  E.    Tregear,    "The    Maoris   of    New    Zealand,"  va  Journ.  Anthrop. 
Inst.  XIX,    lOO. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  339 

throw  it  where  he  did,  for  if  it  were  worn,  his  tapu' 
[i.e.  his  spiritual  power  communicated  by  contact 
to  the  blanket  and  through  the  blanket  to  the  man) 
'would  kill  the  person.'  ^ 

"  No  wonder  therefore  that  the  savage  should  rank 
these  human  divinities  amongst  what  he  regards  as 
the  dangerous  classes,  and  should  impose  exactly  the 
same  restraints  upon  the  one  as  upon  the  other.  For 
instance,  those  who  have  defiled  themselves  by  touching 
a  dead  body  are  regarded  by  the  Maoris  as  in  a  very 
dangerous  state,  and  are  sedulously  shunned  and 
isolated.  But  the  taboos  observed  by  and  towards 
these  defiled  persons  {e.g:  they  may  not  touch  food 
with  their  hands,  and  the  vessels  used  by  them  may 
not  be  used  by  other  people)  are  identical  with  those 
observed  by  and  towards  sacred  chiefs.  ^  And,  in 
general  the  prohibition  to  use  the  dress,  vessels,  etc., 
of  certain  persons  and  the  effects  supposed  to  follow 
an  infraction  of  the  rule  are  exactly  the  same  whether 
the  persons  to  whom  the  things  belong  are  sacred  or 
what  we  might  call  unclean  and  polluted.  As  the 
garments  which  have  been  touched  by  a  sacred  chief 
kill  those  who  handle  them,  so  do  the  things  which 
have  been  touched  by  a  menstruous  woman.  An 
Australian  blackfellow,  who  discovered  that  his  wife 
had  lain  on  his  blanket  at  her  menstrual  period,  killed 
her  and  died  of  terror  himself  within  a  fortnight.  ^ 
Hence  Australian  women  at  these  times  are  forbidden 
under    pain    of    death    to    touch    anything    that    men 

'  R.  Taylor,  Te  Ika  a  Maui ;  or,  New  Zealand  and  its  inhabitants, 
p.    164. 

•a.  S.  Thomson,  The  Story  of  New  Zealand,  I,  lOi  sgg.;  Old 
New  Zealand,  by  a  Pakecha  Maori,  pp.   94,    104  sqq. 

*  Journ.  Anthrop.  Inst.   IX,   458. 


340  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS    OF 

use.  They  are  also  secluded  at  child-birth,  and  all 
vessels  used  by  them  during  their  seclusion  are 
burned.  ^  Amongst  some  of  the  Indians  of  North 
America  also  women  at  menstruation  are  forbidden  to 
touch  men's  utensils,  which  would  be  so  defiled  by  their 
touch  that  their  subsequent  use  would  be  attended  by 
certain  mischief  or  misfortune.  ^  Amongst  the  Eskimo 
of  Alaska  no  one  will  willingly  drink  out  of  the  same 
cup  or  eat  out  of  the  same  dish  that  has  been  used 
by  a  woman  at  her  confinement,  until  it  has  been 
purified  by  certain  incantations.  ^  Amongst  some  of 
the  Tinneh  Indians  of  North  America  the  dish  out  of 
which  girls  eat  during  their  seclusion  at  puberty  'are 
used  by  no  other  person,  and  wholly  devoted  to  their 
own  use.'  *  Again  amongst  some  Indian  tribes  of  North 
America  men  who  have  slain  enemies  are  considered 
to  be  in  a  state  of  uncleanness,  and  will  not  eat  or 
drink  out  of  any  dish  or  smoke  out  of  any  pipe  but 
their  own  for  a  considerable  time  after  the  slaughter, 
and  no  one  will  willingly  use  their  dishes  or  pipes. 
They  live  in  a  kind  of  seclusion  during  this  time,  at 
the  end  of  which  all  the  dishes  and  pipes  used  by 
them  during  their  seclusion  are  burned.  ^  Amongst 
the  Kafirs,  boys  at  circumcision  live  secluded  in  a 
special   hut,  and  when  they  are  healed  all  the  vessels 

'  W.  Ridley,  "Report  on  Australian  Languages  and  Traditions,"  in 
Journ.  Anthrop.  Inst.  II,   268. 

'  Alexander  Mackenzie,  Voyages  from  Montreal  through  the  Con- 
tinent of  North  America,  CXXIII. 

'  Report  of  (he  International  Polar  Expedition  to  Point  Barrow, 
Alaska  (Washington,    1885),  p.   46. 

*  "Customs  of  the  New  Caledonian  Women,"  m  Journ.  Anthrop. 
Inst.  VII,   206. 

*  S.  Heame,  A  Journey  from  Prince  of  Wales's  Fort  in  Hudson's 
Bay  to  the  Northern    Ocean,  p.    204  sq. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  341 

which  they  had  used  during  their  seclusion  and  the 
boyish  mantles  which  they  had  hitherto  worn  are 
burned  together  with  the  hut.  ^  When  a  young 
Indian  brave  is  out  on  the  war-path  for  the  first  time 
the  vessels  he  eats  and  drinks  out  of  must  be  touched 
by  no  one  else."  ^ 

Adopted  Children.  The  Maori  Polynesian  is  almost 
the  only  human  race  in  which  the  child,  in  the  old 
legislation,  rarely  belonged  to  its  progenitors.  The 
adoption  of  children  was  extremely  common  amongst 
the  old  Tahitians,  and  has  not  yet  disappeared  from 
amongst  their  customs.  It  is  one  of  the  most  curious 
customs  of  the  race.  Between  the  Metua  (the  natural 
father)  and  the  Metua  Faanu  (the  adoptive  father) 
there  was  an  almost  incessant  exchange  of  infants  at 
the  breast,  and  this  exchange  created  between  the 
two  families  a  sort  of  quasi  tie  of  relationship. 

Songs.— The  Hymeneal  Chant.  I  heard  the  hy- 
meneal chant  for  the  first  time  in  the  salons  of  the 
Government  House  at  Papeete.  The  chant  was  sung 
in  the  garden.  The  chorus  was  composed  of  seventy 
to  eighty  persons,  seated  in  the  Turkish  fashion,  in 
several  rows,  the  women  in  front.  A  woman  com- 
menced, on  a  very  high  chest  note,  a  lively  and  curious 
air;  the  other  women  repeated  it  in  a  rather  low  key, 
and  the  men  formed  the  bass,  whilst  some  of  these 
latter,  swaying  their  bodies  backwards  and  forwards, 
uttered  real  groans. 

'  L.  Alberti,  De  Kaffers  (Amsterdam,  1810),  p.  76  sq.;  H.  Lich- 
tenstein,  Reisen  im  sudlichen  Afri'ka,  I,  427. 

'  Narrative  of  the  Captivity  and  Adventures  of  fohn  Tanner 
(London,   1830),  p.   122, 


342  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

The  ensemble  was  perfect,  and  the  voices  astonish- 
ingly true.  What  a  difference  between  this  and  the 
cries  and  howls,  as  of  wild  beasts,  at  a  New  Caledonian 
pilou-pilou.  All  the  parts  agreed  in  true  harmony. 
It  was  a  strange  kind  of  music,  but  it  was  music. 
The  Maoris  sang  as  the  Greeks  doubtless  did  in 
the  plays  of  Sophocles  and  Euripides.  To  fully 
understand  the  originality  of  the  hymeneal  chant, 
you  ought  to  hear  it  when  a  bright  moon  is  shedding 
its  light  on  groups  of  women,  excited  by  dancing 
the  upa-upa. 

The  Upa-upa.  On  the  evening  of  a  fete  day,  or 
after  the  delights  of  a  joyous  feast,  the  upa-upa  is 
generally  danced.  This  lascivious  dance  shows  the 
Tahitian  in  her  true  character.  It  is  a  national  dance, 
and  there  is  nothing  that  resembles  it  in  any  part  of 
the  world.  It  is  performed  at  night,  by  the  light  of 
the  moon,  or  Hina,  the  ancient  female  divinity  of 
Tahitians,  the  silver  rays  of  wiiich  light  up  the  scene, 
under  a  transparent  sky,  in  which  the  stars  of  the 
Southern  Cross  glitter  like  diamonds.  There,  under 
the  shadow  of  the  trees,  and  on  the  green  carpet  of 
a  soft  lawn,  men  and  women  dance  wildly  with  infinite 
pleasure.  In  vain  has  British  prudery  sought  to  repress 
the  license  of  the  upa-upa.  The  young  Queen  Pomare, 
when  she  was  but  sixteen,  and  the  English  divines 
sought  to  forbid  her  the  upa-upa^  replied  by  organising 
an  enormous  upa-upa  in  the  island  of  Moorea,  and 
before  all  her  people,  and  simply  clad  in  transparent 
lace,  which  the  missionaries  had  given  her,  and  which 
showed  the  shape  of  her  royal  form,  performed  this 
most  lascivious  dance. 

I  must  have  recourse  once  more  to  the  pen  of  Loti 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  343 

to    make    the    reader    understand   the    nature    of  this 
dance. 

"  Every  evening  the  wild  scene  was  renewed.  When 
night  fell,  the  Tahitian  girls  decked  their  heads  with 
the  brightest  flowers ;  the  hurried  strokes  of  the  tam- 
tam called  them  to  the  upa-upa,  and  thither  they  ran, 
their  locks  dishevelled,  their  bodies  hardly  covered  by 
their  muslin  tunics,  and  the  maddening  lascivious 
dance  often  lasted  till  the  morning.  The  Tahitian 
women  clapped  their  hands,  and  accompanied  the 
tam-tam  with  a  song,  sung  in  chorus,  to  a  fast  and 
frenzied  tune.  Each  of  them  in  turn  executed  a 
figure.  The  steps  and  the  music  were  slow  at  first, 
but  grew  faster  till  they  attained  a  delirium,  and  when 
the  girl  dancing  was  worn  out,  and  stopped  suddenly 
at  a  loud  bang  on  the  drum,  another  darted  into  her 
place,  and  surpassed  her  in  immodesty  and  frenzy 
The  girls  of  Pomotou  formed  other,  and  wilder,  groups, 
and  rivalled  those  of  Tahiti.  Crowned  with  curious 
wreaths  of  the  datura,  wild  as  mad  women,  they  danced 
to  a  more  jerky  and  wilder  rhythm,  but  in  a  manner 
so  charming,  that,  between  the  two,  one  did  not  know 
which  to  prefer." 

At  present  the  upa-upa,  as  danced  at  Papeete,  has 
lost  a  good  deal  of  its  original  character,  and  has 
almost  become  an  imitation  of  the  chahut  of  Bullier. 
But  in  the  interior  it  has  still  retained  its  original 
form,  and  has  been  thus  described  by  the  traveller, 
Desfontaines,  who,  more  fortunate  than  I,  was  able  to 
make  the  tour  of  the  island. 

"  After  lunch,  a  number  of  the  young  Tahitian  girls, 
crowned  with  roses,  and  with  their  hair  unloosed,  came 
and  formed  a  circle  under  the  trees,  squatting,  in  the 
Oriental   fashion,  on  the  grass.     One  of  them  possessed 


344  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF 

an  accordion;  we  were  about  to  assist  at  a  ufa-upa, 
a  kind  of  lascivious  dance,  accompanied  by  songs. 
Hardly  had  the  accordion  uttered  the  first  notes,  than 
the  singing  began,  to  a  lively  and  rapid  air,  and  at 
this  moment  the  faces  of  the  dancers  seemed  suddenly 
to  be  lighted  up;  in  their  eyes,  and  in  their  smiles, 
there  appeared  an  indescribable  expression,  which 
illuminated  their  faces  with  a  look  that  seemed  almost 
divine;  they  appeared  to  no  longer  belong  to  the 
earth.  The  head  was  inclined,  and  thrown  slightly 
backwards,  the  body  swayed,  the  elbows  struck  the 
sides  in  time  with  the  air,  with  movements  which 
resembled  trembUngs,  or  the  light  beating  of  wings, 
the  lower  hmbs  rose  and  fell  according  to  the  rhythm, 
and  thus  they  danced  before  us.  And  when  they  had 
finished  the  verse,  which  ended  with  a  long,  high 
note,  they  stopped  in  their  dance,  and  the  expression 
suddenly  died  out  of  their  faces;  it  was  difficult  to 
believe  that  they  were  the  same  women.  Then  one  of 
them  turned  towards  me  in  the  most  disdainful  manner, 
and  said  in  a  tone  of  command  which  admitted  of  no 
reply,  '  Frenchman,  bring  us  some  beer.'  The  woman 
of  this  country  is  a  wild  animal  of  far  too  charming 
a  kind  to  be  refused  a  request,  so  I  hastened  to  offer 
them  some  drink.  Without  loss  of  time,  they  passed 
round  the  ring,  glasses  filled  with  beer  or  rum,  and 
which  they  emptied  at  a  single  draught.  Then,  trans- 
forming themselves  anew  into  ethereal  beings,  they 
began  a  second  verse,  which  finished  in  the  same 
manrier  with  a  sudden  stop,  and  another  demand  of, 
'Frenchman,  more  beer.'  Songs  and  dances  thus 
alternated  with  libations,  without  the  least  respite.  The 
excitement  reached  its  height.  Amidst  these  gardens 
of  cocoa-palms,   these   young  and   beauteous   damsels. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  345 

in  their  light  garments,  with  their  beautiful  black  hair 
crowned  with  wreaths  of  roses,  resembled  Nymphs 
engaged  in  their  voluptuous  sports,  and  intoxicated 
with  the  exuberance  of  love.  This  was  the  time  for 
us  to  slip  away,  for  the  dance  would  soon  degenerate 
into  orgies.  We  left  the  spot,  being  anxious  to 
carry  away,  unchanged,  the  memory  of  this  never  to 
be  forgotten  vision." 

Diseases. — Rapid  Extinction  of  the  Pure  Maori 

Race.  Before  the  discovery  of  the  island,  the  principal 
diseases  were  rheumatic  pains,  generally  caused  by  ex- 
cessive bathing  in  cold  water,  and  elephantiasis, — a 
disease  derived  from  the  Black  race.  On  the  other 
hand,  since  so-called  modern  civilisation  has  established 
a  footing  in  the  island,  gin,  the  two  poxes,  and  more 
especially  phthisis,  have  caused  enormous  ravages.  The 
royal  family  of  Pomare, — a  race  of  giants,  remarkable 
for  their  strength  and  beauty, — has  almost  entirely 
died  out.  In  Cook's  time,  the  island  possessed  a  po- 
pulation of  more  than  a  hundred  thousand  inhabitants; 
at  present,  there  are  not  ten  thousand.  If  contact  with 
the  White  race  would  quickly  rid  humanity  of  the  can- 
nibals of  New  Caledonia  and  the  New  Hebrides,  that 
would  be  a  benefit,  but  we  must  be  allowed  to  deplore 
the  extinction  of  the  mild,  good-tempered  Maori  race. 
It  lived  so  happily  in  its  terrestrial  paradise  before  the 
arrival  of  the  Europeans.  There  was  hardly  any  work 
to  be  done,  no  moral  troubles,  free  love,  and  every 
kind  of  pleasure.  What  have  we  given  it  in  exchange? 
Alcohol,  small-pox,  and  consumption,  a  terrible  trinity 
alone, — to  say  nothing  of  drunkenness  and  hypocrisy. 
In  a  few  years'  time  there  will  be  (with  some  few  ex- 
ceptions) no  Tahitians  of  pure  breed  left  in  NewCytherea, 


346  UNTRODDEiN    FIELDS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

What  will  the  half-breed  race,  the  cross  between  the 
European  and  the  Vahine,  be  like?  Will  it  possess 
the  moral  qualities  of  the  father,  and  the  physical 
qualities  of  the  Maori  race?  That  is  a  question  that 
the  future  alone  can  answer. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Importance  of  sexual  intercourse  to  the  Maoris. — Lo7}e  the  prin- 
cipal occupation  of  the  race. — Manners  of  the  fortner  inhabitants 
of  New  Cytherea. — Public  offerings  to  Venus. —  Opinions  of  Cook 
and  de  Bougainville  on  the  debauchery  of  the  Tahitians. —  Good 
Friday  in  Lancashire. —  Timorode'e,  the  lascivious  dance. — Sacred 
orgies  and  erotic  festivals. — Ancient  rites.  —  The  ancient 
Peruvians.  —  The  sect  of  the  Nicolites. — The  aborigines  of  Australia. 
—  The  Haivaian  Hula- Hula. —  The  West  African  Negroes.  —  The 
South  American  Puri. —  Christiati  festivals. — New  Britain  Islands. 
— Esthonia.  —  Alarriage  amongst' the  Tahitians. —  Circutncision  and 
tattooing. —  Tattooing  on  women.  —  The  sect  of  the  Arrioys,  amongst 
whom  woman  is  in  commori. —  The  happy  life  of  the  Tahitians. — 
The  day's  life  of  a  Vahine'  at  Papeete. — Jealousy  of  the  present 
race  of  Tahitin?is. —  Tahitian  hospitality. — The  true  character 
of  the  Vahine. — Marriage  after  trial.  —  "^  thee  tak,  I  tak 
thee".  —  The  "  Come  Nights". —  The  Philippine  Islands. 

Love   is  the  Principal  Occupation  of  the  Race. 

The  dolce  farniente  in  which  men  and  women  pass 
their  day,  the  easiness  of  an  existence  which  is  almost 
devoid  of  material  wants,  the  fact  that  family  cares 
are  almost  unknown  to  this  people,  the  last  represent- 
atives of  the  age  of  gold  of  humanity,  all  combine  to 
leave  them  the  leisure  necessary  for  consecrating  all 
their  nights  to  love. 

Before  studying  the  Tahitian  as  he  now  is,  let  us 
throw  a  backward  glance  at  the  manners  of  New  Cy- 
therea at  the  time  of  its  discovery  by  the  European 
navigators. 

347 


348  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS  OF 

Manners  of  the  Ancient  Inhabitants  of  New 
Cytherea.  In  order  to  well  understand  the  influence 
of  "  cant"  and  British  mock-modesty  on  the  present 
manners  of  the  Tahitians,  we  must  glance  at  the  cyni- 
cally frank  and  free  manners  of  their  ancestors  at  the 
time  of  the  discovery  of  the  island.  What  most  es- 
pecially struck  the  navigators  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
was  the  freedom  with  which  the  affairs  of  love  were 
performed  in  open  daylight,  instead  of  in  the  obscurity 
and  mystery  of  night.  This  led  them  to  declare  that 
the  Tahitians  were  not  jealous  of  their  wives,  because 
they  offered  them  to  strangers,  and  that  the  women  had 
not  preserved  that  natural  instinct  of  modesty  which  is 
found  almost  everywhere.  The  Tahitians,  after  having 
listened  to  the  Anglican  divine  service,  showed  Cook 
and  his  companions  a  ceremony  of  quite  another  kind, 
and  which  must  have  rather  startled  British  cant. 

Public  Offerings  to  Venus.  "  A  young  man  six 
feet  in  height,  and  a  young  girl  of  eleven  or  twelve 
years  of  age,  sacrificed  to  Venus  before  several  of  our 
men,  and  a  number  of  the  natives,  without  attaching 
any  idea  of  indecency  to  their  action,  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, seemed  to  imagine  that  they  were  merely  con- 
forming to  one  of  the  customs  of  the  country.  Amongst 
the  spectators  there  were  several  women  of  high  rank, 
and  notably  Oberea,  the  Queen  of  the  island,  who  may 
be  said  to  have  presided  over  the  ceremony,  for  she 
gave  the  young  girl  instructions  how  to  play  her 
part,  but  though  the  girl  was  very  young  she  did  not 
appear  to  need  instructing." 

Let  us  listen  also  to  what  de  Bougainville,  who  has 
bestowed  upon  Tahiti  the  apt  and  pretty  epithet  of 
New  Cytherea,  has  to  say  on  the  same  subject. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  349 

"  Every  day  our  men  walked  about  unarmed,  either 
singly  or  in  twos  or  threes:  they  were  invited  into 
the  huts  and  provided  with  food.  But  the  hospitality 
of  the  master  of  the  house  was  seldom  confined  to 
the  oiFer  of  a  slight  repast;  they  also  offered  young 
gfirls.  ^  The  hut  was  instantly  filled  by  a  crowd  of 
men  and  women,  curious  to  watch  the  proceedings, 
and  who  formed  a  ring  round  the  altar  on  which  the 
young  victim  to  hospitable  duty  was  to  be  sacrificed. 
The  ground  was  covered  with  flowers  and  foliage, 
and  the  musicians  sang  to  the  strains  of  the  flute  a 
hymn  of  rejoicing.  Venus  is  the  goddess  of  their  hos- 
pitality; her  worship  permits  no  mystery,  and  each 
act  in  her  honour  is  a  national  feast ;  they  were  greatly 
surprised  that  we,  on  our  side,  showed  any  embar- 
rassment." 

We  may  note  how  differently  the  facts  are  related 
by  the  two  celebrated  navigators.     Cook,  the  English- 

'  Compare  Sir  R.  F.  Burton  on  the  Krumen: — "As  regards  moral- 
ity, in  its  limited  sense,  the  Krumen  are  not  bright  in  the  scale  of 
creation.  Adultery  is  punished,  it  is  true,  by  a  fine,  and  in  the  case 
of  a  wealthy  or  powerful  man,  there  may  be  a  'great  palaver.'  The 
European  stranger,  however,  travelling  in  their  country  is  expected  to 
patronise  their  wives  and  daughters,  and  these  unconscious  followers  of 
Lycurgus  and  Cato  feel  hurt,  as  if  dishonoured,  by  his  refusing  to 
gratify  them.  The  custom  is  very  prevalent  along  this  coast.  At 
Gaboon,  perhaps,  it  reaches  the  acme;  there  a  man  will  in  one  breath 
offer  the  choice  between  his  wife,  sister,  and  daughter.  The  women 
of  course  do  as  they  are  bidden  by  the  men,  and  they  consider  all  famil- 
iarity with  a  White  man  a  high  honour."  Dr.  Livingstone,  chap.  25, 
asserts,  "I  have  heard  women  speaking  in  admiration  of  a  White  man, 
because  he  was  pure  and  never  was  guilty  of  any  secret  immorality." 
This  is  amongst  the  Makolokos :  he  would  have  heard  them  speak  in 
anything  but  an  admiring  way  about  continence  in  these  regions. 
"  IVanderings  in  West  Africa  from  Liverpool  to  Fernando  Po" 
Lond.    1863,  vol.  II,  p.  24. 


350  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF 

man,  mentions  the  offering  to  Venus,  but  says  nothing 
about  his  own  men.  De  Bougainville,  more  frankly, 
declares  that  the  Frenchmen  showed  some  embarrass- 
ment at  being  called  upon  to  thus  perform  in  public, 
but  he  does  not,  from  false  modesty,  deny  that  some 
of  the  sailors  (probably  Provencals  who  are  naturally 
lewd  and  reckless)  did  commit  such  acts  coram  popiilo. 

Let  us,  however,  return  to  Cook's  account.  "  It 
cannot  be  supposed  that  these  people  can  much  esteem 
chastity;  men  offer  to  strangers  their  sisters  or  their 
daughters,  out  of  civility,  or  as  a  return  for  some 
service,  and  conjugal  infidelity,  even  in  the  woman, 
is  only  punished  by  a  few  hard  words,  or  some  light 
blows.  License  and  lust  are  carried  to  a  degree  that 
no  nation  in  the  history  of  the  world,  from  the  creation 
until  now,  has  ever  attained,  and  which  it  is  impossible 
to  imagine." 

Cook  wrote  the  preceding  lines  after  his  first  voyage; 
on  the  second  visit  he  was  less  severe  in  his  opinion 
of  the  lewdness  of  the  Tahitians.  "  However,"  he 
says,  "  those  who  have  represented  all  the  women  of 
Tahiti  and  the  Society  Islands  as  ready  to  grant  the 
greatest  favours  to  all  those  who  would  pay  them, 
have  been  very  unjust  to  them ;  it  is  a  mistake.  It 
is  as  difficult  in  this  country  as  it  is  in  any  other,  to 
have  commerce  with  married  women  of  a  certain  rank, 
and  even  with  those  who  are  not,  except  the  women 
of  the  common  people,  and  amongst  these  last  there 
are  many  who  are  chaste.  Certainly  there  are  prosti- 
tutes, as  there  are  everywhere  else,  and  the  number 
of  them  is  perhaps  greater  than  usual,  and  such  were 
the  women  who  came  on  board  our  ships,  or  into  the 
camp  which  we  had  established  on  the  coast.  And 
as  these  women  mix  freely  with  the  chaste  ones,  and 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  351 

with  women  of  the  highest  rank,  one  is  at  first  tempted 
to  believe  that  they  are  all  of  the  same  sort,  and  that 
there  is  no  difference  between  them  except  that  of 
price.  But,  it  must  be  confessed,  that  a  prostitute 
does  not  seem  to  them  to  commit  any  fault  which 
would  cause  her  to  lose  the  esteem  or  the  companion- 
ship of  her  fellow  countrywomen."  ^ 

Good  Friday  in  Lancashire.  ^  Some  five-and- 
thirty  years  ago,  on  Good  Friday,  if  the  weather  was 
at  all  favourable,  a  strange  sight  could  be  witnessed 
at  any  of  the  steam-ferry  landing-stages  along  the 
quays  of  Liverpool.  There  were  congregated  motley 
crowds  of  men  and  women,  mostly  young,  laughing, 
joking,  and  making  fun  in  broad  Lancashire  dialect 
of  the  serious  God-abiding  folks  passing  by  on  their 
honest  way  to  Church  or  Chapel,  much  to  the  latters' 
discomfiture  and  abomination. 

But  whence  came  these  crowds  and  what  was  their 
destination? 

They  were  Lancashire  operatives  with  their  wives, 
and  they  were  waiting  for  steamboats  to  convey  them 
to  Eastham,  some  five  or  six  miles  higher  up  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Mersey,  where  the  river  widens  out 
into  an  estuary  of  considerable  extent.  The  purpose 
of  their  trip  was  to  have  an  "outing", — but  a  "Good 
Friday  outing", — one  of  an  altogether  peculiar  kind. 

On  arriving  at  Eastham,  they  formed  into  numerous 
groups  and  settled  into  comfortable  nooks  to  enjoy  the 
contents  of  their  provision  baskets,  which  they  washed 
down    with  copious  draughts  of  ale.     Then  there  was 

'  For  comparison  with  these  customs,  see  the  Excursus  to  present 
chapter,    "Marriage  after  Trial." 

*  This  account  was  sent  to  us  by  an  old  Lancashire  resident. 


3S2  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

dancing  and  games  at  hide  and  seek,  and  blind-man's 
buff,  after  which,  well  primed  with  fun  and  whiskey, 
they  disappeared  by  couples  into  the  neighbouring  brush- 
wood; Eastham  at  that  time  was  a  wild  region  of 
little  sand  hills  covered  with  sparse  thickets,  the  only 
inhabitants  being  rabbits,  to  which  the  place  was  a 
perfect  paradise.  To  anyone  wandering  through 
the  brushwood,  a  strange  sight  was  now  disclosed; 
nearly  every  bush  sheltered  some  couple  actively 
engaged  in  amorous  conversation  on  the  soft  sand. 
Sometimes  their  legs  only  protruded  from  the  protecting 
bush,  sometimes,  a  little  more  of  their  persons,  but 
their  lively  motions  left  no  room  for  doubt  as  to  the 
nature  of  their  occupations. 

These  were  all  married  couples,  who  believed  that 
copulation  in  the  open  air  on  Good  Friday  would 
ensure  them  the  birth  of  a  boy  during  the  year. 

It  is  conjectured  that  this  superstition  dates  back  to 
the  first  invasion  by  the  then  heathen  Anglo-Saxons 
and  that  it  may  be  referred  to  the  cult  of  the  Scan- 
dinavian Venus,  the  goddess  Freya,  whose  name  appears 
in  Friday, 

The  Lascivious  Dance,  Timorod^e.  "Amongst 
the  amusements  of  these  islanders,  there  is  a  dance 
called  Titnorodde,  which  is  performed  by  young  girls, 
whenever  eight  or  ten  of  them  meet  together.  This 
dance  consists  of  postures  and  gestures  which  are 
extremely  lascivious,  but  to  which  children  are  ac- 
customed from  their  earliest  years;  moreover,  it  is 
accompanied  by  words  which  plainly  express  lewdness. 
The  Tahitians  keep  time  as  exactly  as  our  best  theatri- 
cal dancers  in  Europe.  These  amusements,  which  are 
permitted    to    the  young  girl,  are  forbidden  to  her  as 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  353 

soon  as  she  has  become  a  woman;  she  can  then 
practise  for  herself  the  lessons,  and  realise  the  symbols, 
of  the  dance." 

Sacred    Orgies   and   Erotic  Festivals.    My  old 

friend,  Dr.  Ploss,  has  dwelt  upon  these  with  great 
wealth  of  detail: — Before  terminating  our  observations 
concerning  prostitution,  we  must  once  more  refer 
to  the  delivery  of  women  to  this  infamy  as  it  was 
customary  at  certain  festivals  among  various  nations. 
It  was  often  on  the  occasion  of  festivals  of  their  divinities, 
which  were  connected  with  religious  orgies,  in  other 
cases  there  were  erotic  feasts  of  profane  nature,  during 
which  by  special  exemption  the  usually  existing  bounds 
of  morals  and  honour  were  left  aside,  and  the  other- 
wise strictly  forbidden  extra-nuptial  sexual  intercourse 
was  accepted  and  tolerated,  and  indeed  sometimes 
ordered. 

Ancient  Rites.  During  the  festivals  of  Isis,  the 
Pascht,  in  ancient  Egypt,  the  most  fearful  licentiousness 
reigned.  It  was  the  same  in  Byblos  at  the  funeral 
rites  of  Adonis;  and  on  these  occasions  the  women 
who  refused  to  abandon  their  bodies  on  that  particular 
day  in  the  temple  of  Aphrodite,  were  subjected  to  the 
punishment  of  having  their  hair  cut  off. 

The  festival  of  the  Bona  Dea  in  Rome  was  principally 
celebrated  by  the  women.  As  Juvenal  has  recorded, 
it  degenerated  into  the  wildest  orgies,  in  which  ladies 
of  the  highest  rank  were  not  ashamed  to  have  intercourse 
with  the  lowest  people. 

Similar  things  are  reported  from  other  centres  of 
culture.      Stoll  ^    tells   us    for   instance  that  in  ancient 

'  Stoll  (O.),  Ethnog.  V.  Guatemala. 


354  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS   OF 

Guatemala   on  the   days   of  the   grand   sacrifice  there 
were  great  rejoicings. 

'■'  The  bounds  of  modesty  ceased  to  exist,  inebriated 
individuals  abandoned  themselves  without  choice  to 
sexual  depravity  with  their  daughters,  sisters,  mothers 
and  concubines,  and  even  little  children  of  from  six 
to  seven  years  old  were  not  spared." 

The  Ancient  Peruvians.  Von  Tschudi,  *  speaking 
of  the  ancient  Peruvians,  says: 

"  In  the  month  of  December,  that  is  at  the  approaching 
moment  of  the  ripening  of  the  fruit  PaVtay  or  PaVta, 
the  participators  in  the  festival  prepare  for  it  by  a 
five  days'  fast,  that  is  to  say,  abstinence  from  salt, 
iitsii  (chilies,  capsicum  spec)  and  from  female  inter- 
course. On  the  day  fixed  for  the  beginning  of  the 
festival  the  men  and  women  assemble  at  a  certain 
place  among  the  gardens,  all  of  them  stark  naked. 
At  a  signal  they  all  start  off  on  a  race  to  a  distant 
hillock.  Each  man  who  overtakes  a  woman  on  the 
road  immediately  takes  advantage  of  the  occasion  then 
and  there  to  copulate  with  her.  This  festival  is  continued 
during  six  days  and  six  nights." 

This  account  was  taken  from  an  extremely  rare  do- 
cument, a  Carta  pastoral  de  exortacion  ^  mstruccion, 
fol.  47,  from  Don  Pedro  de  Villagomez,  archbishop  of 
Lima,  who  says  that  this  festival  is  called  Akhataymita. 

The  Sect  of  the  Nicolites.  Here  we  have  to  do 
with  heathen  folks  ;  but  similar  things  have  been  seen 
in  Christendom.  For  instance,  in  the  fourth  century 
the  sect  of  the  Nicolites,  who  thought  it  to  be  a  reli- 

'  Tschudi,  Beitr.  iiber  Peru.  Denkschr.  der  K.  Acad,  der  Wissensch., 
Wien,   1 89 1,  Vol.  XXXIX,  p.  214. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  355 

gious  duty  to  put  aside  every  feeling  of  modesty  and 
to  consider  every  form  of  sensual  depravity  right  and 
holy  (Lombroso).  Similar  opinions  were  defended  by 
the  disciples  of  Karpocrates  and  Epiphanius,  as  well 
as  by  the  sects  of  the  Kanaits,  the  Adamites  and  the 
Picards,  and  also,  at  the  end  of  the  14th  century,  the 
Turlupins.     For  further  details  see  Lombroso.  ^ 

But  even  up  to  the  present  moment  such  sexual 
depravations,  pretended  for  the  glory  of  God,  have 
found  enthusiastic  disciples.  This  is  to  be  seen  in  the 
description  given  by  Dixon  in  his  "  Spiritual  Brides" 
of  certain  bigotted  religious  sects ;  it  is  also  to  be  seen 
in  the  religious  service  in  Eva  van  Buttler  and  her 
similars,  and  is  proved  lastly  by  the  judicial  enquiries 
instituted  in  Russia  concerning  the  members  of  the 
Skopzi  seat. 

The  Aborigines  of  Australia.  As  it  has  been 
already  mentioned,  there  are  not  only  religious  festivals 
to  which  are  added  such  orgies,  there  have  been  and 
are  still  feasts  celebrated  of  a  profane  character,  in  which 
the  sexual  connection  between  man  and  woman  is  either 
represented  in  pantomime  or  is  really  and  naturally 
operated.  For  instance,  Miiller  ^  relates  the  following 
concerning  the  Australian  aborigines : 

"  It  is  remarkable  and  reminds  one  of  the  animal 
condition  of  the  native  Australian  that  marriage  and 
copulation  are  generally  accomplished  during  the  warm 
season,  when  nature  furnishes  the  necessary  food  in 
abundance  and  the  body  is  therefore  more  disposed 
for  sensual  enjoyment.  Among  some  tribes,  the  Wat- 
schindics    for    instance,    marriage   takes   place   in    the 

*  Lombroso,  Anthropol.   Studien,  Hamburg,    1894. 

'  Miiller,  Allgem.  Ethnogr.,  Wien,    1873,  P-   293 — 300. 


356  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS   OF 

warm  season  and  is  the  occcasion  of  a  special  festival, 
called  Kaaro,  This  is  celebrated  at  the  first  new  moon 
after  the  yams  have  become  ripe,  and  is  inaugurated 
by  the  men  with  an  eating  and  drinking  bout.  For 
this  purpose  the  men  smear  themselves  all  over  with 
wallaby  grease  and  ashes,  and  then  execute  an  ex- 
tremely obscene  dance  by  moonlight  roundabout  a  pit, 
which  is  surrounded  by  bushes.  This  pit  and  bushes 
is  supposed  to  represent  the  cunnus,  of  which  they 
present  the  shape,  and  the  spears  brandished  by  the  men 
represent  the  mentulae.  The  men  jump  in  wild  and 
savage  bounds  expressive  of  their  lust  around  the  pit, 
into  which  they  finally  cast  their  spears,  singing  at  the 
same  time  the  following  song  in  keeping  with  the  ob- 
scene nature  of  the  occasion : 

"  Pulli  nira,  pulli  nira, 
Pulli  nira,  Wataka  " 
[Nbn  fossa,   non  fossa, 
Non  fossa  sed  cunnus  !) 

The  Hawaian  Hula-Hula.  In  the  island  of  Hawai 
the  natives  have  an  extremely  lascivious  dance  which 
they  call  Hula-Hula. 

"  First  of  all  the  dancers  of  both  sexes,  as  well  as 
the  musicians,  are  seated  in  double  rank  on  the  ground 
with  their  legs  crossed,  and  they  alternately  rise  and 
sit  down  to  the  cadence  of  a  chorus,  whereby  they 
first  of  all  slowly  and  then  quicker  and  at  last  very 
passionately  agitate  the  upper  part  of  their  bodies, 
waving  their  arms  to  and  fro  and  shaking  little  cala- 
bashes in  which  are  pebbles  which  rattle,  so  that 
they  make  a  most  tremendous  noise.  The  melody  is 
far  more  complicated  than  in  that  of  the  Haka  dance 
of  the  Maoris  of  New  Zealand  or  than  the  Mekc-Meke 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  357 

of  the  Viti  Islands.  The  two  female  dancers  wear  a 
peculiar  ornament  round  their  ankles,  a  sort  of  bodice 
and  raised  frock ;  formerly  the  costume  was  limited  to 
a  frock  which  could  be  easily  lifted  up.  When  the 
dance  has  lasted  a  little  time  they  spring  about  wildly 
and  with  savage  cries  and  exclamations  make  the  most 
indecent  movements  with  their  hind-quarters.  The 
native  spectators  participate  most  enthusiastically  in 
the  amusement,  laugh  very  heartily  and  imitate  the 
same  obscene  movements  of  the  hind-quarters." 

The  West  African  Negroes.  Staff-surgeon  Wolff,  * 
speaking  of  the  amusements  of  the  Negroes  in  the 
Congo  territory  (West  Africa),  says: 

"  The  dance  here  consists  mainly  in  thrusting  the 
hind-quarters  backwards  and  forwards  as  quickly  as 
possible,  they  and  the  women  posted  opposite  to  each 
other,  advancing  and  retreating  alternately,  at  last 
taking  hold  of  each  other.  In  this  position  they 
remain  for  a  moment  still,  and  then  recommence 
the  previous  backward  and  forward  movements.  In 
many  of  the  Mandinga  villages  during  the  embrace 
they  make  the  most  unequivocal  motions,  after 
which  they  hold  each  for  some  time  still  embraced,  as 
if  exhausted." 

The  South  American  Puri.  Spix  and  v.  Martius ' 
had  occasion  to  observe  in  the  darkness  of  the  evening 
a  dance  of  the  Puri  in  South  America,  in  the  second 
part    of    which    the    women    began    to    give    a    rapid 

•Wolff,  Verhandl.  der  Ges. /.  Erdkunde  zu  Berlin,  Bd.  13,  1886, 
p.   48,   49,    55,   56. 

'  Spix  und  V.  Martius,  Reise  nach  Brasilien, 


358  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

rotary  motion  to  their  pelvis,  thrusting  it  alternately 
forward  and  backward.  The  men  also  thrust  the 
middle  of  their  body  forward,  but  forward  only. 

That  such  lust  exciting  dances,  among  people  who 
attach  but  slight  value  to  maiden  chastity,  should 
soon  lead  to  acts,  cannot  be  a  source  of  astonishment, 
and  Kulischer  ^  is  of  opinion  that  there  is  herein  a 
sort  of  elective  choice.  He  cites  a  number  of  examples, 
which  tend  to  confirm  his  opinion.  Among  others  the 
following : 

"  The  making  of  a  choice  by  the  women,  and  the 
attention  they  pay  to  the  exterior  appearance  of  the 
men,  is  clearly  noticeable  in  one  of  the  Kaffir  dances. 
In  these,  says  de  Albertis,  any  number  of  men, 
usually  naked,  place  themselves  in  close  line  together, 
each  with  his  right  arm  lifted,  holding  a  war  club,  and 
with  the  left  arm  holding  his  next  man.  Close  behind 
the  men  stand  a  line  of  women,  but  whose  arms  are 
not  entwined.  They  continue  hopping  in  the  air  and 
with  both  feet  and  without  ever  changing,  while  the 
women  are  seen  to  make  a  sort  of  cramp-like  move- 
ment of  the  entire  body,  consisting  principally  in  a 
backward  and  forward  bending  of  the  shoulders 
combined  with  a  movement  of  the  head.  From  time 
to  time  the  latter  go  round  about  the  men,  following 
one  another  at  a  very  slow  pace,  and  then  re-occupy 
their  first  position.  During  all  this  they  are  careful 
to  give  themselves  a  most  modest  appearance  particu- 
larly by  lowering  their  eyes.  But  the  real  object 
of  this  lowering  of  the  eyes  of  the  women,  while 
inspecting  the  men  as  they  stand  in  rank,  is  easy 
enough  to  divine.  " 

'  Kulischer,  Zeitschr.  f.  Et/iiiol.,  Berlin,   1876. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  359 

Christian  Festivals.  ^  But  in  Christendom  also 
there  have  been  festivals,  in  which  modesty  was  not 
one  whit  more  respected  than  it  is  by  these  savages. 
It  was  particularly  the  Asses'  and  Fools'-feasts,  and 
also  the  Church  commemorations  and  Processions  which 
led  to  the  most  shameless  debauchery.  There  were 
certain  dances  that  were  not  in  best  repute.  As 
Prsetorius  ^    says,   speaking  of  the   Gallarda  dance  : 

"  Besides  such  a  roundabout  dance  was  accompanied 
by  shameful  obscene  gestures  and  indecent  motions." 
Kulischer  ^  quotes  a  sermon  by  Spangenberg  to  the 
following  effect : 

"  God  preserve  all  pious  souls  from  such  maidens, 
who  take  delight  in  the  dance  at  eventide  and  gladly 
allow  themselves  to  be  spun  round  and  immodestly 
kissed  and  seized  hold  of  There  can  indeed  be  nothing 
good  in  them  ;  they  only  excite  each  other  to  impudi- 
city,  and  feather  Satan's  darts.  At  such  dances  many 
a  woman  has  lost  her  honour  and  good  fame.  There 
many  a  maiden  has  learnt  that  it  would  have  been 
better  had  she  never  known  them.  To  sum  up,  there 
is  naught  honourable  nor  godly  thereby." 

As  has  been  remarked  the  Fools'-feasts  were  the 
occasion  of  the  grossest  indecencies.  The  parody,  of 
mass,  used  to  be  performed  in  the  church,  the  actors 
being  masked  and  in  grotesque  costumes,  while  gambling 
and  dicing  went  on  and  ribald  songs  were  sung. 
Dulaure  *  says :  "  After  mass,  there  were  renewed  acts 
of  extravagance  and  of  impiety.  The  priests,  mixed 
up  with  the   population  of  both  sexes,  running  about ; 

'  Vide  Lombroso,  loc.  cit. 

*  Prxtorius,   Gestriegeltc  Rocken-Philosophia,  Chemnitz,  1 707,  cap.  36. 
'Kulischer,  M.,  Zeitschr.  f.  Ethnol.   Berlin,    1876. 

*  Dulaure,  J.  A.,   Ctdte^du  Pha II us f  P axis,    1885,   p.   96. 


3dO  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF 

exciting  each  other  to  the  most  licentious  acts  that  an 
unbridled  imagination  could  suggest.  No  longer  any 
shame  or  modesty ;  no  barrier  opposed  this  outbreak 
of  folly  and  passion.  In  the  midst  of  the  tumult,  of 
blasphemies  and  dissolute  songs,  some  were  seen  to 
divest  themselves  entirely  of  their  clothes,  otliers  aban- 
doning themselves  to  the  most  shameful  libertinism. 
Then  the  disorder  was  continued  in  the  street.  The 
most  debauched  among  the  seculars  mingled  with  the 
clergy,  and  disguised  as  monks  and  nuns,  performed 
lascive  movements,  taking  all  the  postures  of  the  most 
unbridled  profligacy." 

Quite  similar  monstrosities  at  the  Asses'  feasts.  They 
throw  a  very  curious  light  upon  the  moral  conditions 
of  mediaeval  Europe. 

New  Britain  Islands.  According  to  Weisser  ^ 
the  young  maidens  in  the  New  Britain  Islands  are 
guarded  with  jealousy,  and  they  are  not  allowed  any 
communication  whatever  with  the  young  men  in  the 
village ;  but  on  certain  evenings  a  loud-sounding  drum 
is  heard  in  the  bush,  upon  which  they  are  allowed  to 
go  there  to  meet  together  with  the  youths. 

According  to  other  information  concerning  the  same 
group  of  islands,  Weisser  seems  to  have  made  a 
mistake.  This  account  says  that  in  New  Britain  any 
woman  without  living  relations  may  give  herself  to 
whomsoever  she  likes;  but  should  she  be  killed,  the 
tribe  is  not  held  bound  to  avenge  her  death.  If  a  man 
marries  her,  she  has  the  same  rights  as  the  other 
wives.  If  her  father  and  mother  are  still  living,  their 
consent  is  necessary  if  she  wishes  to  become  a  prostitute, 
which    consent  is  often  given.     Otherwise  the  woman 

•  Weisser,  Zeitschr.  /.  Ethnol.,    1885,  XVII, 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  361 

runs  the  risk  of  being  killed  by  anyone  of  her  relations, 
because  she  may  have  been  destined  to  become  the 
wife  of  an  important  man  or  have  already  been  bought 
by  a  chief.  On  certain  nights  a  drum  is  beaten,  at 
sound  of  which  all  the  prostitutes  run  into  the  forest 
and  are  there  hunted  by  the  young  men.  This  is 
called  "Lu-Lu",  an  expression  which  either  relates  to 
the  women  themselves  or  to  something  connected  with 
this  custom. 

Esthonia.  Kreutzwald  says,  concerning  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Esthonia,  that  in  the  supplement  to  the  Revel 
Esthonian  Almanac  for  1840,  it  is  related  that  about 
60  years  ago  thousands  of  people  used  to  congregate 
on  the  eve  of  Saint  John's  festival  (24th  June)  around 
the  ruins  of  an  ancient  church  where  they  lighted  a 
votive  fire  into  which  they  cast  fire  offerings.  Women 
that  were  barren  danced  naked  round  the  ruins,  others 
gave  themselves  up  to  eating  and  drinking,  while  the 
youths  and  maidens  amused  themselves  in  the  woods 
doing  many  naughty  things.  ^ 

"  Although  we  no  longer  meet  with  untrammelled 
intercourse  between  young  people  of  both  sexes,  we 
may  yet, "  thinks  Dr.  Ploss,  "  from  an  ethnographical 
point  of  view  consider  it  as  an  echo  of  ancient  days, 
when  we  find  that  in  spite  of  all  decency  and  modesty 
in  words,  on  certain  occasions  youths  and  girls  come 
together,  and  the  most  immodest  and  indecent  things 
are  allowed  to  be  freely  said  and  done  to  the  great 
amusement  of  all  parties. 

"Even  to-day  these  evil  customs  have  not  died  out 
from  amongst  us,  particularly  in  the  country,  and  it  is 
usually   on    a    marriage  evening  that  they  take  place, 

'  Kreutzwald,  Fr.   H.,  Der  Ehsten   Gebrduche,  Petersburg,    1854. 


362  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

whereas  formerly  in  the  Middle  Ages,  even  in  the  best 
society,  when  the  young  couple  were  taken  home, 
they  were  not  spared  the  most  abominably  indecent 
jokes  and  sallies.  It  may  be  added  that  in  the 
Spinnstuben  (common  spinning  rooms  in  German  vil- 
lages) the  conversation  and  songs  are  not  always 
strictly  moral.  Vambery  ^  relates  something  similar 
of  one  of  the  Turkestan  tribes,  the  Kumuken,  in 
Western  Asia,  as  he  says  : 

"  Among  the  games  of  the  Kumuken  must  be 
counted  the  Sildjiln-Tadjak,  that  is  to  say  Love-stick, 
which  is  usually  played  by  unmarried  people  on  the 
occasion  of  a  marriage,  and  in  which  enamoured  couples 
strike  each  other  with  a  stick  on  the  shoulder,  exchanging 
at  the  same  time  a  partly  sarcastic  and  partly  erotic 
dialogue. " 

Marriage  amongst  the  Tahitians.  "It  appears," 
says  Cook,  "  that  marriage  at  Tahiti  is  but  an  agree- 
ment between  the  man  and  the  woman,  in  which  the 
priests  do  not  interfere;  the  couple,  however,  does 
observe  certain  ceremonies.  The  bridegroom  sits  by 
the  side  of  his  wife,  and  takes  her  hand  in  his.  He 
is  accompanied  by  ten  or  twelve  persons,  the  greater 
number  of  whom  are  women,  who  sing  a  monotonous 
chant;  the  bride  and  bridegroom  make  some  short 
responses ;  then  they  have  brought  to  them  some  food, 
of  which  the  husband  offers  part  to  his  wife,  and  she, 
in  her  turn,  offers  some  to  him.  This  action  is  accom- 
panied by  certain  words,  and  then  they  both  go  to 
bathe  in  the  river.  When  a  marriage  is  made,  both 
parties  perform  the  conditions,  but  sometimes  they 
separate    by    common    consent,    and,  in  that  case,  the 

'  VamWry,  DasTurkenvolk  inEthttogr.  Beztehungen,%ic.,'Le\^z\g,x?>iif. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  363 

divorce   is    performed   as   easily    as   the  marriage  was 
made." 

Circumcision  and  Tattooing.  "  The  priests  derive 
no  income  from  their  flock  for  the  nuptial  ceremony, 
but  there  are  two  other  ceremonies  by  which  they 
gain  considerable  sums.  The  one  is  circumcision,  and 
the  other,  tattooing.  These  people  have  adopted  cir- 
cumcision from  no  other  motive  than  that  of  cleanliness. 
The  operation  cannot  be  called  circumcision,  properly 
speaking,  as  they  do  not  make  a  circular  amputation 
of  the  foreskin ;  they  only  slit  it  across  the  upper  part 
to  provent  it  from  covering  the  gland." 

A  learned  friend  of  mine  in  the  Berlin  "Journal  of 
Ethnography  "  has  already  dealt  with  this  subject.  I 
transcribe  his  remarks.  ^  "  Tattooing  among  the  Pelau 
islanders  is  much  less  developed  than  in  Japan,  and 
nothing  approaching  to  the  majority  of  the  men  are 
now  tattooed,  though  in  former  times  the  custom  gen- 
erally prevailed.  The  reason  for  this  decrease  in  the 
practice  was  accounted  for  to  me  on  the  ground  of  the 
many  serious  maladies  and  even  cases  of  death  resulting 
from  the  operation  of  too  extended  tattooing.  I  have 
not  heard  the  same  complaint  made  either  in  Japan 
or  in  Samoa,  where  the  natives  are  tattooed  all  over. 
Here,  such  things  as  serious  illness  or  still  less  mortal 
effects  subsequent  to  tattooing  were  said  to  be  of  very 
rare  occurrence.  But,  as  the  natives  of  Pelau  are 
great  amateurs  of  tattoo  ornamentation,  and  greatly 
admire  a  rich  skin  embellishment  of  the  kind  (such  as 
may  be  seen  in  Japan,  in  Uleai,  and  neighbouring 
islands),  and  as  they  are  far  from  having  weak  con- 
stitutions   compared    with    other   Pacific    islanders   (the 

^  Zeitschrift  ftir  Ethnologte,  Berlin,    1878,  80,  p.    107. 


364  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

Japanese   for   instance),  there  would  evidently  seem  to 
be  here  a  sort  of  idiosyncracy." 

Tattooing  on  Women.  "  In  Pelau  the  women  are 
more  tattooed  than  the  men.  On  adult  women  it  is 
to  be  seen  on  the  dorsal  side  of  the  hands,  also  up 
to  about  the  middle  of  the  fore-arms,  particularly  on 
the  outside,  the  mons  veneris  is  covered  with  ara- 
besques, and  with  all  sorts  of  almost  continuous  designs, 
while  the  exterior  sides  of  the  legs,  from  the  trochanter 
major  down  to  the  exterior  malleolus,  is  tattooed  with 
a  series  of  crosses,  stars,  dots  and  simple  zig-zag  lines. 
The  tattooing  of  the  mons  veneris  is  not  undertaken 
until  after  the  first  menstruation.  The  front  part  of 
the  exterior  labia  is  also  tattooed. — The  tattooing  on 
this  part  is  probably  the  reason  for  the  practice  of 
depilating  all  the  hairs  from  the  pubes  of  women.  The 
operation,  in  this  case  very  painful,  is,  I  was  assured, 
finished  in  an  afternoon. — Wishing  to  see  this  tattooing, 
I  prevailed  upon  several  young  girls  to  strip  off 
together  their  '  Kariut ',  or  garment  made  of  pandanus 
leaves,  and  was  at  once  reminded  of  what  Costanti 
says  of  the  tattooed  bodies  of  the  Suliotes:  'their 
aspect  does  not  in  the  least  provoke  a  feeling  of  shame.' 
At  first  view  it  seemed  to  me  as  if  the  girls  wore  a 
triangular  piece  of  stuff  over  their  pubes."  ^ 

'  The  damsels  in  question,  after  assuring  themselves  that  none  of  their 
men  could  see  us,  made  no  difficulty  whatever  in  complying  with  my 
desire. — It  would  also  seem  that  in  Pelau  there  is  no  shame  attached  to 
the  exhibition  of  the  naked  body  (except  in  certain  positions).  I  have 
constantly  seen  men  slark  naked  working  or  walking  about,  without  in 
the  least  troubling  themselves  about  passers-by.  But  among  all  of  them 
the  long  prepuce  entirely  covered  the  gland,  and  I  was  told  that  the 
presenting  to  view  of  the  glans  penis  was  alone  considered  indecent, 
that  is  to  say   "Mogul!"  or  "Taboo"  in  Polynesian, 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  36S 

The  Sect  of  the  Arrioys  (Woman  in  common). 
"  A  considerable  number  of  the  Tahitians,  of  both  sexes, 
form  singfular  societies,  wherein  all  the  women  are 
common  to  all  the  men.  This  arrangement  affords 
them  a  perpetual  variety  in  their  pleasures;  which 
variety  it  seems  they  so  much  need,  that  the  same 
man  and  woman  rarely  live  together  for  more  than 
two  or  three  days.  These  societies  are  known  by  the 
name  of  Arrioy;  those  who  belong  to  them  hold 
meetings  at  which  the  other  islanders  are  not  present. 
The  men  amuse  themselves  with  wrestling,  and  the 
women  dance  the  Timorodde  in  order  to  excite  in 
themselves  desires,  which,  it  is  said,  they  satisfy  upon 
the  spot.  Nor  is  this  all :  if  one  of  the  women  becomes 
pregnant,  which  happens  much  more  rarely  than  if 
each  woman  lived  with  one  man  only,  the  infant  is 
strangled  as  soon  as  born,  in  order  that  it  may  not 
embarrass  the  father,  or  interrupt  the  pleasures  of  the 
abominable  prostitution  of  the  mother.  Sometimes, 
however,  it  happens  that  the  mother  experiences  that 
feeling  which  nature  implants  in  the  breasts  of  all 
animals  which  bring  forth  young,  and  the  maternal 
instinct  then  overcomes  the  passions  which  had  led 
her  into  this  society.  But  even  in  this  case,  she  is 
not  allowed  to  preserve  the  child  alive,  unless  she  can 
find  one  of  the  men  who  will  declare  that  the  child 
is  his,  and  adopt  it.  This  will  save  the  infant's  life, 
but  the  man  and  woman,  being  regarded  as  devoted 
solely  to  each  other,  are  driven  out  of  the  community, 
and  lose  all  rights  to  enjoy  the  privileges  and  pleasures 
of  the  Arrioys. 

"  No  people  should  be  charged  on  imperfect  evidence 
with  such  horrible  and  strange  practices,  but  I  have 
convincing   proofs   of  the  truth  of  the  account  I  have 


366  UxNfTRODDEN  FIELDS  OF 

given.  The  Tahitians  so  far  from  regarding  it  as  a 
disgrace  to  belong  to  this  society,  are  quite  proud  of 
it,  and  deem  it  a  great  distinction.  We  were  shown 
several  persons  who  were  members  of  an  Arrioy,  and 
we  questioned  them  on  the  subject,  and  received  direct 
from  their  mouths,  the  details  that  I  have  just  given. 
Many  of  the  natives  confessed  to  us  that  they  were 
affiliated  to  one  of  these  abominable  associations,  and 
that  many  of  their  children  had  been  put  to  death. " 

As  will  be  seen  from  the  foregoing  extract,  the 
Tahitians  long  ago  discovered  the  theory  of  free  love, 
and  free  woman,  which  certain  modern  philosophers 
talk  so  much  about.  It  may  reasonably  be  supposed 
that  this  sect  of  Arrioys  gave  the  Chevalier  Andrea 
de  Nerciat,  an  erotic  writer  of  the  i8th  Century,  the 
idea  of  his  famous  "  Society  of  Aphrodite " ,  in  which 
woman  was  common  to  all  the  men,  though  he  placed 
the  seat  of  the  Society  at  Paris. 

The  sect  of  the  Arrioys  has  long  ceased  to  exist  at 
Tahiti,  the  English  missionaries  having  caused  it  to  be 
suppressed  by  Pomare  II.,  when  he  was  converted  to 
Protestantism. 

The  Happy  Life  of  the  Tahitians.  Modern  civi- 
lisation has  not  been  able  to  change  the  Tahitian  race. 
If  in  the  present  day  the  Tahitian  does  not  openly 
perform  the  acts  of  love,  as  his  ancestors  did,  sexual 
lusts  still  form  the  sole  object  of  his  thoughts.  He 
has  simply  become  more  of  a  hypocrite,  but  at  bottom 
he  is  what  he  has  been.  The  accounts  of  modern  trav- 
ellers leave  no  doubt  on  this  point.  The  people  of 
the  Saxon  and  Semitic  races  say,  "  Business  first  and 
pleasure  after, "  but  pleasure — sexual — is  the  sole  occu- 
pation of  the  Tahitian. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  367 

Paul  Branda,  in  his  Lettres  d'un  Marin,  thus  depicts 
the  Hfe  of  the  Tahitians. 

"  Nature  seems  to  have  created  the  Tahitian  woman 
for  nothing  else  but  pleasure.  She  is  not  pretty,  but 
her  charm  lies  in  her  languid  pose,  and  her  graceful 
form ;  she  breathes  voluptuousness  out  of  every  pore. 
But, — as  is  but  too  clearly  seen, — we  were  not  put 
into  the  w^orld  for  pleasure  only,  and  he  or  she  who 
seeks  pleasure  finds  death.  This  graceful,  artistic,  idle 
race  will  soon  disappear.  There  is  no  place  for  it  in 
this  world  of  business,  science,  and  work.  During  the 
last  five  days  I  have  travelled  about  a  good  deal.  I 
will  not  say  that  the  Tahitian  women  do  nothing,  but 
I  will  simply  state  that  I  have  never  seen  them  doing 
anything.  In  the  town,  they  lounge  through  the  streets, 
laughing  and  talking  amongst  themselves,  or  with  the 
young  men;  in  the  country,  they  bathe  and  dive  like 
Naiads,  and  then,  with  their  long  hair  still  dripping 
with  water,  they  lie  on  the  grass  on  the  banks  of  the 
brooks,  in  lascivious  attitudes,  and  gracefully  smoke 
cigarettes,  or  they  stroll  about  making  wreaths  of  the 
yellow  flowers  of  the  bouraos,  or  cutting  yellow  stars 
from  the  golden  fruit  of  the  pandanus. " 

Chartrier,  the  traveller,  in  his  interesting  work  on 
Tahiti,  also  describes  the  present  life  of  the  Tahitians. 

"  The  Tahitian,  though  richly  endowed  by  nature  with 
physical  and  muscular  strength,  shows  a  marked  re- 
pugnance for  all  kinds  of  labour.  Having  few  wants 
to  satisfy,  he  does  not  feel  the  necessity  of  working; 
besides  which  the  foreigner  never  refuses  the  Vahines 
the  little  luxuries  which  they  require. 

"  You  can  never  get  a  Tahitian  to  undertake  any 
cultivation  of  the  ground,  or  perform  any  work  that 
is  ordered.     As  to  his  intelligence,  his  mental  gifts  are 


368  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

on  a  par  with  his  bodily  ones,  but  he  never  uses  them 
except  to  gain  the  favours  of  the  Vahines,  or  to  detect 
the  business  tricks  of  the  Europeans.  We  remember 
an  instance  in  which  a  midshipman  had  promised  a 
native  a  gold  ring  in  return  for  some  services  he  had 
performed,  but  the  ring  he  did  give  was  copper-gilt. 
He  had,  however,  not  reckoned  upon  the  exquisitely 
fine  sense  of  smell  of  the  Tahitian,  who  having  put  it 
to  his  nose,  quickly  detected  the  copper.  As  to  the 
women  they  have  preserved  to  the  present  day  a  sort 
of  soft  laziness,  and  Olympian  carelessness.  Dreami- 
ness, a  stroll,  a  siesta,  a  dance,  a  few  songs,  and  a 
batli, — these  form  their  principal  occupations." 

A   Day  of  the   Life   of  a  Vahine   at  Papeete. 

The  Tahitian  women  pass  their  existence  in  playing 
and  laughing,  like  the  nymphs  of  Calypso's  island; 
but  unfortunately  they  add  to  these  amusements,  cards, 
tobacco,  and  beer,  which  European  civilisation  has 
brought  them. 

"  In  the  morning,  the  Tahitian  women  who  inhabit 
Papeete  and  the  environs,  after  having  made  their 
purchases  of  fish  and  fruit,  assemble  at  the  market 
round  the  tables,  were  the  Chinese  sell  them  tea,  coffee, 
butter,  cakes,  etc.  Then  they  return  home  to  take 
their  principal  meal,  which  they  eat  about  eleven 
o'clock,  and  which  is  prepared  by  the  men  or  the  old 
women.  As  soon  as  it  is  finished,  and  the  scraps  given 
to  the  domestic  animals,  numbers  of  which  wander 
round  the  house,  the  women  attend  to  their  toilet. 
The  mats  are  then  spread,  and  they  take  their  siesta, 
the  invariable  custom  throughout  the  tropics,  and  which 
lasts  about  two  hours.  Then,  still  reclining,  but  in  a 
circle,  they  play  cards, — an  amusement  of  which  Tahitian 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  369 

women  are  extremely  fond ;  a  cigarette  rolled  in  a  long 
leaf  of  the  pandanus  passes  from  mouth  to  mouth,  and 
each  Vahine  takes  two  or  three  whifFs,  and  leisurely 
breathes  out  the  smoke  through  her  nostrils.  Those 
who  do  not  care  for  ecarte  or  poker,  tittle-tattle  about 
the  incidents  of  last  night's  dance,  or  hum  native  songs 
to  an  accompaniment  on  the  accordion  or  Jew's  harp. 
In  the  evening,  if  there  is  no  upa-upa,  or  band,  they 
meet  in  '  Little  Poland  Street ',  one  of  the  principal 
streets  of  the  capital,  and  the  usual  promenade.  There 
they  walk  about  in  pairs,  a  sailor's  hat,  surrounded 
with  wreaths  of  flowers  and  odorous  plants,  on  their 
head,  holding  with  one  hand  the  little  finger  of  their 
companion,  and  with  the  other  gracefully  raising  the 
train  of  their  long  robe  of  white,  pink,  or  blue  muslin, 
and  thus  they  stroll  up  and  down,  humming  national 
airs.  The  youth  of  the  Tahitian  woman  is  passed  in 
a  continual  fete.  Alas!  time  has  destroyed  all  their 
pleasures.  Poor  Vahine!  she  must  say  farewell  to  the 
upa-upa,  the  hymeneal  chant,  and  the  long,  idle 
reveries !  " 

Jealousy   of  the  Tahitian  in  the  Present  Day. 

The  inhabitants  of  New  Cytherea  no  longer  offer  their 
wives  to  the  European  stranger.  The  Tahitian  of  the 
present  day  is  as  jealous  of  his  wife  as  any  other  man 
can  be.  I  am  speaking  of  the  native  of  the  interior, 
and  not  of  the  native  of  Papeete,  who  has  been  corrupted 
by  contact  with  the  European. 

The  traveller,  Desfontaines,  from  whom  I  have  already 
quoted,  gives  some  curious  details,  which  I  here  repro- 
duce, as  to  the  present  manners  of  the  Tahitians: 
"  Excessive  hospitality  prevails  amongst  the  Tahitians, 
but  they  do  not  offer  their  wives,  as  certain  travellers 


370  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

state.  If  by  chance  they  do  offer  you  a  woman,  it  is 
one  whom  all  the  world  can  possess.  On  the  contrary 
they  are  very  jealous,  as  I  found  on  more  than  one 
occasion,  and  this  jealousy  exists  amongst  the  women 
as  much  as  amongst  the  men.  One  night  I  was 
awakened  by  loud  cries,  and  ran  out  of  doors.  A 
young  Tahitian  woman  was  being  dragged  along  by 
the  hair  of  her  head.  I  questioned  the  people  present 
and  was  told  that  the  young  man  had  been  unfaithful 
to  his  wife,  and  that  to  punish  him,  the  girl  had  left 
him  and  refused  to  return.  Not  being  able  to  persuade 
her,  he  employed  violence,  and  this,  I  was  told,  fre- 
quently occurred.  Another  time  I  heard  that  a  woman 
had  severely  wounded  her  husband  in  the  thigh,  with 
the  point  of  a  pair  of  scissors,  because  he  had  gone 
astray  with  other  women.  I  myself  almost  fell  a  victim 
to  this  blind  and  fierce  jealousy.  One  day  I  asked 
for  some  information,  from  a  pretty  woman  I  met  on 
the  road.  Suddenly,  a  man  came  out  of  the  thicket,  and 
seeing  me  talking  to  his  better  half,  seized  an  enormous 
stake  and  rushed  at  me,  foaming  at  the  mouth  with 
rage,  and  his  eyes  glaring.  I  thought  my  last  hour 
had  come,  but  conscious  of  my  innocence,  I  stood  firm, 
with  my  arms  crossed.  When  within  a  yard  of  me, 
he  stopped  short,  and  lowered  his  weapon;  then  he 
poured  forth  a  flood  of  words  which  I  imagine  could 
not  have  been  compliments.  I  stood  quite  still  and 
watched  him,  and  when  he  had  finished  his  harangue, 
I  took  him  by  the  arm  and  tried  to  lead  him  to  the 
?nutoi,  or  rural  policeman,  of  the  district,  but  naturally, 
he  refused  to  come. 

"  When  you  do  interfere  with  his  wife,  the  Tahitian 
threatens  to  harpoon  you.  I  may  add,  too,  that  the 
native   never   misses   his  aim,  and  if  he  should  throw 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  371 

his  three-pronged  harpoon  at  your  back,  you  would 
die  a  most  terribly  painful  death.  Truth  compels  me 
to  own,  however,  that  such  an  occurrence  is  exceedingly 
rare.  But  though  the  Tahitian  does  not  offer  you  his 
wife,  he  will  offer  you  his  best  bed,  or,  if  he  has  but 
one,  he  will  not  hesitate  an  instant  to  give  you  that, 
and  will  stretch  himself  on  the  mats." 

Tahitian  Hospitality.  In  the  cordial  hospitality 
he  is  always  ready  to  give,  the  mild,  good-natured 
character  of  the  Maori  shows  itself  in  its  true  light. 
I  again  borrow  from  Desfontaines  the  following  account. 
He  had  been  invited  to  lunch  with  the  chief  of  a 
district,  to  whom  he  had  been  recommended  by  a 
Frenchman  of  Papeete,  a  friend  of  the  chief. 

"  In  the  afternoon  I  prepared  to  take  leave  of  my 
hosts,  and  they  watched  me  with  surprise  preparing 
my  few  articles  of  baggage.  Then  the  daughter  of 
the  house,  the  lovely  Tara,  approached.  'Aita  (no),' 
she  said,  '  you  sleep  here  and  stop  with  us.'  The 
invitation  was  so  prettily  given,  that  it  would  have 
been  bad  grace  on  my  part  to  refuse  it.  I  was  in  no 
hurry,  so  I  accepted  the  invitation.  After  a  pleasant 
evening  on  the  beach,  spent  in  the  company  of  some 
pretty  girls,  with  whom  I  began  to  talk  Tahitian  with 
the  help  of  my  little  dictionary,  we  returned  to  the 
hut.  The  drum  began  to  beat  to  summon  all  the  folks 
of  the  district  to  the  hymeneal  chant." 

I  will  pass  over  the  traveller's  description  of  the 
hymeneal  chant,  and  also  of  his  dinner. 

"  My  dinner  being  finished,  I  lay  on  my  face  on  a 
mat,  with  my  elbows  resting  on  a  cushion.  The 
Kanaka  cigarette  passed  from  mouth  to  mouth  round 
the   circle    of  Tahitians    of   which  I  now  formed  part. 


372  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

The  beautiful  Tara,  who  had  disappeared  for  a  minute, 
now  returned  with  a  magnificent  wreath.  As  she 
advanced  majestically,  decked  with  flowers,  and  clad 
in  a  long  loose  robe  which  floated  round  her  she 
looked  like  a  queen.  She  came  and  sat  by  my  side 
on  the  mat,  and  amidst  these  poetic  surroundings,  in 
which  the  exhalations  of  the  flowers  mingled  with  the 
scent  of  monoi  (oil  perfumed  with  sandal  wood),  in 
which  my  eyes  rested  on  smiling  faces,  and  my  soul 
was  captivated  by  the  charms  of  this  unexpected 
friendship,  I  found  a  happiness  which  I  cannot  describe. 
The  little  children  themselves,  pretty  as  Cupids,  had 
lost  their  fear  of  me,  and  allowed  me  to  caress  them. 
I  taught  them  how  to  blow  kisses,  and  it  was  pretty 
to  see  them  carry  their  little  hands  to  their  mouths, 
and  quickly  take  them  away  again,  or  else  waft  kisses 
in  the  Australian  way,  that  is  to  say,  pretend  to  pick 
the  kiss  off  the  lips  with  the  finger  and  thumb,  then 
turn  the  palm  of  the  hand  towards  me  and  prettily 
throw  it. 

"  The  hour  of  repose  arrived,  and  I  went  to  bed.  In 
the  morning  the  glare  of  a  bright  red  band  of  light 
shining  from  under  a  dark  cloud,  awoke  me.  Nothing 
could  be  more  beautiful  than  the  landscape,  as  seen 
through  the  bars  of  this  birdcage  house.  I  rose  with 
the  sun,  and  prepared  to  leave ;  they  still  wished  me 
to  stay,  but  I  was  unwilling  to  abuse  their  kind 
hospitality,  and  excused  myself  on  the  ground  that  I 
was  pressed  for  time.  They  compelled  me,  however, 
to  stay  to  lunch.  When  I  was  finally  about  to  take 
leave  of  my  hosts,  the  charming  Tara  came  to  me 
with  a  bottle  of  monoi,  some  of  which  she  emptied 
into  the  palm  of  her  hand.  She  made  me  smell  it, 
and  asked  if  the  perfume  was  agreeable  to  me.     Upon 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  373 

my  replying  in  the  affirmative,  she  anointed  my  hair 
with  this  perfumed  oil.  Then  everyone  accompanied 
me  to  the  door-step,  and  shook  hands  with  me  cordially. 
As  I  walked  away,  a  last  ia-orana  (farewell)  greeted 
my  ears  :  I  turned  and  beheld  the  young  and  beauteoug 
Tara  waving  me  a  last  farewell.  I  replied  with  a 
kiss.  The  little  girls  insisted  on  conducting  me,  and 
carried  my  baggage  to  the  banks  of  the  neighbouring 
river.  They  absolutely  refused  to  take  the  money  I 
offered  them,  when  I  took  leave  of  them,  and  long  after 
I  left  them  I  could  still  see  them  blowing  me  kisses." 

The  True  Character  of  the  Vahin^.  The  Vahine 
is  not  only  a  beautiful  creature  of  pleasure ;  under  the 
carnal  covering  that  is  swayed  by  her  passionate 
nature  beats  an  ardent  heart,  that  is  susceptible  of  true 
affection,  and  as  capable  of  sincere  love  as  that  of  any 
European  woman.  This  much  can  be  learned  from 
the  celebrated  novel  Le  Mariage  de  Loti, — a  book 
which  made  the  literary  fortune  of  its  author.  The 
romance  is  a  strikingly  lifelike  picture.  It  would  not 
have  been  possible  to  invent  such  true  sketches  of  the 
manners  and  the  character  of  the  Tahitian  as  abound 
in  this  book, — a  remarkable  work  written  by  one  who 
is  a  psychologist  as  well  as  a  lover.  It  will  certainly 
save  from  oblivion  the  Maori  Vahine,  when  the  race 
has  finally  disappeared,  which,  alas,  will  happen 
ere  long. 

EXCURSUS  TO  CHAPTER  XII. 

Marriage  after  Trial.  ^     We  must  now  refer  to  a 
particular  form  of  marriage  which  may  be  denominated 

'  Translated   from  Dr.  Ploss,  "Das   Weib"  (Berlin,  1897). 


374  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

"  marriage  after  trial."  This  consists  in  the  strange 
custom,  that  an  affianced  couple  live  together  in  regular 
sexual  intercourse  for  a  certain  time,  sometimes  during 
several  years,  and  that  marriage  is  only  finally  settled 
when  the  future  husband  has  succeeded  in  landing 
his  betrothed  in  the  family  way.  If  no  pregnancy 
intervenes  it  is  taken  for  granted  that  these  two  people 
are  not  suited  for  each  other,  and  they  therefore 
separate.  It  is  not  seldom  that  the  bride  who  has 
been  thus  quitted  very  soon  finds  a  new  suitor  ready 
to  take  the  place  of  his  predecessor  and  to  commence 
another  trial  period  with  her.  To  abandon  a  girl  who 
has  become  pregnant  under  such  circumstances,  would 
be  considered  a  particular  infamy  and  deserving  of 
general  condemnation. 

"If  thee  tak,  I  tak  thee."  G.  v.  Bunsen  ^ relates 
that  in  several  pa.rts  of  Yorkshire  marriage  after  trial 
still  exists.  The  abandonment  by  the  lover  of  the 
bride  after  having  made  her  pregnant  is  most  severely 
blamed  by  the  neighbourhood.  The  solemn  words  of 
the  bridegroom  when  entering  into  such  a  trial  contract 
are:  If  thee  tak,  I  tak  thee  (If  thou  conceivest  I  will 
marry  thee). 

It  is  also  reported  that  in  1864  marriage  after  trial 
still  existed  in  Masuren  (East  Prussia)  where  it  was  a 
genera]  custom  among  the  peasants.  Here  also  the 
marriage  was  really  contracted  only  after  the  girl  had 
become  pregnant. 

The    "  Come  Nights. "     Fischer  ^  reports  a  similar 

*  Zettschr.  f.  EthnoL,  vol.  XIX,  p.  376,  Berlin,    1887. 

*  Fischer  (Frd.),  Die  Ptobenachte  der  deutschen  Bauernmadchen,  p. 
1 01,   Zurich,   n.  d. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  375 

custom  in  the  Black  Forest,  where  a  distinction  is  made 
between  the  Come  Nights  and  the  Trial  Nights.  The 
first  always  precede  the  latter  and  the  maidens  begin 
with  them  as  soon  as  they  are  grown  up.  "  The 
country  folk  consider  this  custom  so  innocent,  that  it 
not  unfrequently  happens  that  when  a  village  priest 
asks  a  peasant  after  the  health  of  his  daughter,  the 
latter,  to  prove  to  him  how  well  the  child  has  grown 
up,  quite  openly  and  with  fatherly  satisfaction  says 
that  she  has  begun  to  hold   her  '  Come  Nights.'  " 

The  ■'  Come  Nights"  are  certainly  of  a  rather  inno- 
cent nature. 

The  young  man  is  not  permitted  to  enter  the  house 
through  the  door,  he  must  go  to  the  chamber  of  his 
sweetheart  through  the  window,  which  may  be  some- 
times a  rather  risky  undertaking.  In  the  chamber  he 
finds  the  girl  reclining  on  the  bed,  but  completely 
dressed,  and  all  his  pains  and  efforts  will  at  first  procure 
him  no  other  advantage  than  that  of  being  able  to 
pass  an  hour  or  two  conversing  with  his  darling. 
"  As  soon  she  falls  asleep,  he  must  leave  on  the  instant, 
and  it  is  only  little  by  little  that  their  interviews 
become  more  lively."  The  "  Come  Nights"  now  grad- 
ually change  into  the  "  Trial  Nights".  After  a  while 
the  maid,  with  all  sorts  of  teasings  and  country  jokings, 
would  let  him  get  a  stray  glimpse  of  her  hidden 
charms,  receives  him  little  by  little  in  lighter  vestment, 
and  at  last  grants  him  all  that  a  woman  can.  But  in 
all  this  a  certain  gradation  is  always  observed.  Very 
often  the  girl  refuses  her  lover  the  supreme  favour 
until  he  uses  violence  to  conquer.  This  is  always 
when  the  coy  maiden  has  some  doubt  as  to  the  phy- 
sical vigour  of  her  lover. 

It    is    not  of  unfrequent  occurrence  that  after  a  few 


376  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

"  Trial  Nights  "  the  couple  separate.  But  the  maiden's 
reputation  does  not  thereby  suffer  in  the  least,  and  she 
soon  finds  another  lover  ready  to  continue  with  her 
the  novel  already  commenced.  Her  reputation  becomes 
endang-ered  when  she  is  known  to  have  gone  through 
several  trial  periods  without  any  serious  result.  The 
village  gossips  then  think  themselves  autliorised  to 
suspect  in  the  girl  some  hidden  infinnity. 

It  is  highly  probable  tliat  tliis  custom  of  marriage 
on  trial  also  exists,  if  not  so  generally,  in  many  other 
parts  of  Germany  among  the  peasants.  '  The  healthy 
peasant  girl  who  thus  gets  in  child,  now  often  seeks 
for  lucrative  employment  as  wet-nurse  in  the  nearest 
large  towni,  and  as  soon  as  her  services  are  no  longer 
required,  she  returns  to  her  native  xdllage  and  marries 
her  faithful  swain.  Fischer  produces  many  examples, 
from  which  it  appears  very  probable,  that  this  trial 
before  marriag-e  was  at  one  time  very  general  among 
both  high  and  low.  He  further  supports  this  opinion 
by  referring  to  tlie  solemn  public  lying  together  of 
bride  and  bridegroom  before  marriage,  as  it  existed 
of  yore,  and  also  the  marriage  by  proxy  of  crowned 
heads  when  the  procurator  of  the  prince  put  his  leg 
bared  to  the  knee  into  the  bed  in  which  was  the 
princely  bride,  ho  standing  at  the  side  of  the  bed  in 
full  armour,  and  this  in  presence  of  all  the  high 
dignitaries  of  the  State  and  of  the  Court  assembled. 
Pope  Alexander  III.  ruled  that  of  two  affianced  brides, 
tlie  one  is  to  be  proclaimed  legitimate  wife  who  has 
already   cohabited   with    her   future   husband ;  and  the 

•  It  exists  in  many  parts  of  the  Bawuian  Alps,  where  the  entr)-  through 
iho  wituKnv  of  the  lover  is  called  frnsterln  (windowing);  only,  these 
lusty  nuHMUaineers  brvxik  no  dallying  Come  Sights^  but  their  courtship 
is  s«.x->n  followed  by  marriage. 


ANTHROPOLOGY,  377 

52nd  law  of  the  Allcmancn  (ancient  Germans)  notifies 
that  whosoever  has  ruptured  his  connection  with  his 
betrothed,  must  swear  "  that  it  was  neither  from  sus- 
picion of  any  crime  by  her  committed,  nor  that  he 
had  really  discovered  anything  of  the  kind  in  her." 
Ebers  ^  also  informs  us  that  this  trial  before  marriage 
is  of  very  respectable  antiquity,  for,  as  he  says,  it 
already  existed  in  long  ages  past  among  the  ancient 
Egyptians. 

The  Philippine  Islands.  Hans  Meyer  ^  shows 
that  some  analogy  with  this  custom  is  equally  to  be 
met  with  in  uncivilised  tribes.  Speaking  of  the  Igor- 
rotes  in  the  Philippine  Islands,  he  says: 

"  When  a  loving  couple  have  obtained  the  consent 
of  their  parents  to  their  marriage,  a  feast  is  arranged, 
in  which  roast  pork  and  boiled  rice  constitute  the 
principal  elements,  and  during  the  feast  the  married 
couple  are  shut  up  together  in  a  hut,  where  provided 
with  sufficient  food,  they  remain  together  during  four 
or  five  days,  until  the  festival  is  over,  either  party  is 
at  liberty  to  relinquish  the  marriage.  If  it  is  the  man 
who  declines,  he  is  obliged  to  give  to  the  woman  a 
robe,  a  spade,  a  cooking-pot,  a  bracelet  and  earrings 
and  to  pay  the  cost  of  the  feast.  But  if  the  trial 
results  in  the  woman  becoming  in  child,  the  man  is 
obliged  to  build  her  a  hut  and  to  give  her  a  hog  and 
a  cock  and  hen." 

'  Ebcrs  in  Zeitschr.      "Fiir  Edle  Frauen "  von  Heinrichsen,    18 16. 
*  H.   Meyer,    "  Eine  Weltreise,"  Leipzig,    1890. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Perversions  of  the  sexual  passion  amongst  the  Tahitians.  —  The 
Tane'. —  Corncption  of  the    Vahine'  in  contact  ivith  the  European, 

—  Sexual  pei~oersions  of  the  Vahine'. — Masturbation  and  Sapphism. 

—  The  influence  of  race  in  genital  perversions. 

The  Tane.  This  chapter  will  be  brief  so  far  as 
concerns  the  Maori  Tane.  From  the  age  of  puberty, 
he  is  a  faithful  worshipper  of  the  natural  Venus,  and 
fervently  adores  her  until  old  age.  He  commences 
the  sports  of  love  as  soon  as  he  finds  a  little  Vahine, — 
or  perhaps  even  a  nubile  one, — who  is  obliging  enough 
to  give  him  his  first  lessons.  Is  he,  when  young, 
addicted  to  the  vice  of  masturbation,  peculiar  to  human 
kind,  and  its  caricature,  the  simian  race?  I  do  not 
know;  but  from  the  moment  that  he  has  to  do  with 
his  first  mistress,  the  Tane  cares  only  for  women. 
That  there  may  be  amongst  the  race,— as  amongst 
all  others, — sodomites  and  pederasts,  I  admit;  but  they 
are  very  rare  exceptions,  and  prove  nothing  against 
the  relative  morality  of  the  Maori  race.  The  cult  of 
the  Annamite  "  basket",  and  "  boy  ",  has  never  existed 
at  Tahiti,  and  from  this  particular  point  of  view,  the 
Tane   is  less  depraved  than  certain  European  nations. 

Corruption  of  the  Vahin^  in  Contact  with  the 

European.     European  travellers,  who  now  visit  Tahiti, 

a78 


UNTRODDEN  FIELDS   OF  ANTHROPOLOGY.  379 

complain-  bitterly  of  the  want  of  morality,  and  the 
venality,  of  the  Vahine  of  Papeete.  Desfontaines  has 
faithfully  re-echoed  these  statements,  but  he  confesses 
that,  if  this  picture  of  the  immorality  of  the  Tahiti  an 
women,  "  painted  by  the  Frenchmen  residing  at  Papeete, 
is  a  fair  representation  of  the  character  of  the  natives 
of  the  capital,  it  is  absolutely  false  as  regards  those 
of  the  interior."  ^ 

Of  what  then  can  the  European  complain?  Is  he 
not  reaping  the  bitter  fruit  that  he  has  sown?  The 
accounts  of  Cook  and  de  Bougainville  have  shown  us 
the  Tahitian  race  as  attaining  a  very  advanced  degree 
of  civilisation,  worthy  to  be  compared  with  that  of 
the  ancient  Greeks.  The  Tahitian  race  was,  at  that 
moment,  at  the  apogee  of  its  physical  and  moral 
development.  The  Tahitians  were  good,  docile,  and 
hospitable,  even  to  the  point  of  oflFering  their  wives, 
not  for  money,  but  for  "love" — in  both  senses  of  the 
phrase.  In  this  fortunate  island,  the  Vahine  bestowed 
her  charms  for  the  pleasure  she  derived,  and  not  for 
filthy  lucre.  Is  it  not  the  European,  with  his  pretended 
superior  civilisation,  who  has  destroyed  these  manners, 
— brutally  frank,  I  admit,  but  simple  and  naive?  He 
has  given  the  Tahitian  artificial  needs,  by  bringing 
him  alcohol ;  he  has  morally  poisoned  him  with  his 
gold,  and  corrupted  his  blood  by  transmitting  syphiHs, 
which  was  absolutely  unknown  before  the  discovery 
of  the  island.     It  is  the  European  who  has  made  the 

'  Macdonald,  cited  by  Westermarck,  Human  Marriagr,  p.  151,  states 
that  "  in  Efate,  of  the  New  Hebrides,  sexual  intercourse  is  regarded 
as  something  unclean  "  (See  Oceania :  Linguistic  and  Anthropological, 
Melbourne  and  London,  1889);  and,  according  to  the  report  of  Cook, 
the  Tahitians  believed  that,  '^  if  a  man  refrained  from  all  connection 
with  women  some  months  before  death,  he  passed  immediately  into  his 
eternal  mansion  without  any  purification." 


380  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

Vahine  drunken,  selfish,  and  lustful  after  money.  The 
Tane  has  become,  by  the  force  of  circumstances,  a 
maqucreau,  '  and  a  pander.  The  Vahin6  of  Papeete 
is  the  worthy  rival  of  the  prostitute  of  Paris  or  London, 
and  she  has  but  too  well  profited  by  the  lessons 
learned  from  the  European. 

All  the  worst  faults  of  venal  prostitution  are  now 
found  at  Papeete,  as  I  can  testify  de  visu.  The  grand- 
mothers of  the  present  generation  of  Vahines  were 
"horizontals".  Their  grand-daughters  have  become 
**  kneelers  "  {i.e.  agenouillee,  a  fellatrice)  in  the  Parisian 
fashion.  How  can  she  do  otherwise  than  despise  the 
European,  who  has  taught  her  such  disgusting  practices? 
She  reserves  all  her  affection  for  her  handsome  Tane, 
the  lover  after  her  own  heart,  who,  at  least,  does  not 
beat  her,  as  the  souteneur  ^  of  la  MUette  thrashes  his 
marmtte,  '  when  she  does  not  bring  in  enough  galette.  * 
In  his  moral  decay,  although  he  has  become  a  drunkard 
and  a  pander,  the  Maori  still  preserves  an  innate  re- 
spect for  woman.  He  is  morally  superior  to  the  de- 
graded beings,  who  grovel  in  the  lowest  depths  of  life 
in  the  great  European  capitals.  He  never  uses  the 
knife  to  kill  a  panie,  "  that  he  may  rob  him  at  his  ease. 
Poor  Maori,  who  is  being  quickly  killed  off  by  contact 
with  the  White,  but  who  still  retains  his  sweet  disposi- 
tion and  good-nature  ! 

There  is.  however,  one  thing  to  which  the  Vahine 
resolutely   objects,    and    to    which  she  can  be  brought 

'  Maqufreau,  a  prostitute's  bully  ;  inarmitf,  a  woniau  who  keeps 
the  snmo  by  her  prostitution;  gal^tt^,  cake,  but  in  slang,  money; 
soMtfnetir,  .-x  man  who  lives  on  the  proceeds  of  a  girl's  whoring  and 
maintains  (soutirnt)  her  in  her  evil  way;  are  all  words  used  in  PArisinn 
fast,  low   life. 

*  Slang  for  customer. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  381 

only  with  the  greatest  difficulty.  The  practice  of 
sodomy  is  almost  unknown  to  her.  We  cannot  say 
as  much  for  the  public  "  gay  women  "  of  old  Europe ; 
a  perusal  of  the  works  of  Tardieu  and  Martineau 
would  set  that  point  at  rest.  With  many  of  them  it 
is  a  mere  question  of  price. 

Besides,  it  must  be  confessed  that  Europe,  the  eldest 
daughter  in  civilisation  of  old  Asia,  cannot  reproach 
her  mother  with  immorality,  for  she  is  now  as  corrupt 
as  ever  her  mother  was, — but  she  conceals  it  better. 

Sexual  Perversions  of  the  Vahin6.  The  contact 
of  the  corrupt  White  man  with  a  woman  of  a  nature 
so  ardent,  and  so  passionately  fond  of  physical  love, 
as  the  Vahine,  has  had  the  natural  result.  He  found 
in  her  suitable  ground,  and  the  seed  of  lust  has  sprung 
up:  it  is  in  the  methods  of  copulation  that  it  has  first 
shown  itself. 

I  do  not  know  who  introduced  into  Tahiti  the 
"  Manual  of  Classical  Erotology "  of  Forberg,  but  all'' 
the  different  positions  of  copulation  indicated  by  that 
experienced  writer  are  known  and  practised  by  the 
"  g"ay "  Vahines.  It  is  the  same  with  the  thirty-six 
positions  attributed  to  Pietro  Aretino,  on  account  of 
his  indecent  Sonnets,  and  under  whose  name  it  has 
circulated  for  the  last  three  hundred  years.  I  saw  a 
copy  of  the  French  Aretin,  which  passed  from  hand 
to  hand,  and  was  used  as  a  love  breviary. 

Among  other  Orientals  also  the  artificial  augmentation 
of  the  clitoris  is  far  from  rare  and  therein  may  be 
found  the  possible  explanation  of  the  fact  that  women, 
without  having  recourse  to  artificial  means,  are  able 
to  find  a  sensual  satisfaction  together. 

Duhousset      pretends   that   such   Lesbian  love  once 


382  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS   OF 

long  existed.  It  is  supposed  to  have  been  imported 
thence  to  Greece,  to  Rome  and  to  Egypt.  This  vice 
has  also  spread  to  the  East  and  prevails  particularly 
among  the  Arabs.  And  according  to  Parent-Duchatelet  * 
and  other  authors,  it  exists  also  among  the  nations  of 
Western  Europe,  and  is  indeed  more  frequent  than  is 
supposed.  Lucian  has  alluded  to  it  in  his  dialogues 
of  hetaerae. 

An  excessive  development  of  the  clitoris  naturally 
facilitates  active  tribadism.  In  ancient  Rome  there 
were  the  so-called  Fricatriccs  and  Subigatoriccs,  who 
particularly  devoted  themselves  to  this  voluptuous  work, 
and  it  is  in  the  highest  degree  probable,  that  the  efforts 
of  many  peoples  to  promote  the  greater  development 
of  the  clitoris  by  repeated  excitations,  correspond  to 
this  vice.  It  is  reported  that  the  Bali  women  excell 
in  this  matter.  Jacobs  says:  Almost  in  the  same 
measure  as  pederasty,  but  more  secretly,  do  the  females 
practise  among  themselves  the  so-called  Lesbian  love 
{nietjcngtjeng  djocock,  literally:  "rubbing  the  basins 
together  without  making  any  noise").  In  Malay  lan- 
guage :  bertampoe  laboe — iampoe,  the  crown  of  a  fruit, 
perhaps  an  allusion  to  the  clitoris,  with  its  digital  and 
lingual  variations.  The  considerable  development  of 
the  clitoris  among  the  Bali  women  would  give  some 
credence  to  this  opinion. 

Among  other  Orientals  also  the  artificial  augmentation 
of  the  clitoris  is  far  from  rare  and  therein  may  be 
found  the  possible  explanation  of  the  fact  that  women, 
without  having  recourse  to  artificial  means,  are  able 
to  find  a  sensual  satisfaction  together. 

Duhousset  ^   pretends   that   such   Lesbian  love  once 

*  La  Prostitution  a  Paris,  Paris,   1857. 

'Bull,  de  la  Soc.  d'Anthrop.  d.  Paris,   1878,  vol.  XH,  p.   124. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  383 

resulted  in  pregnancy,  but  we  must  leave  the  proof  of 
the  fact  to  him.  He  relates  that  in  Egypt  two  female 
friends,  who  practised  this  vice  together,  continued  to 
do  so  even  after  one  of  them  had  been  married ;  it 
then  happened  that  the  one  who  had  remained  single 
became  pregnant,  the  explanation  of  this  fact  being 
that  the  married  woman  had  retained  in  her  vagina 
some  of  the  semen  given  to  her  previously  in  cohabi- 
tation by  her  husband,  and  that  she  communicated  the 
same  to  her  friend  while  caressing  her.  This  fact  was 
communicated  to  the  Anthropological  Society  of  Paris 
in   1877. 

Jan  Mocquet  ^  records  a  cruel  punishment  inflicted 
for  tribadism.  "  A  certain  King  of  Siam  having  learned, 
that  a  great  number  of  his  wives  and  concubines,  the 
most  beautiful  that  could  be  found  in  the  kingdom, 
sometimes  amused  themselves  together,  by  imitating 
manly  nature,  to  excite  their  lust,  summoned  them 
before  him,  and  in  condemnation  of  their  unchastity, 
had  each  of  them  branded  on  the  forehead  and  both 
cheeks  with  the  image  of  a  virile  member,  and  then 
had  them  cast  living  into  the  flames." 

That  German  women  in  the  Middle  Ages  were  also 
addicted  to  this  vice  appears  from  the  ecclesiastical 
penalties  edicted  by  Bishop  Burchard  of  Worms,  ^  which 
are  quoted  by  Dulaure  and  are  as  follows : 

"  Fecisti  qiiod  qncBdam    multeres  facere   soleni,    tit 

facer cs  quoddam  molhncn  aut  machinamcntiu)i  in  modiim 

virilis  nicmbrt,  ad  mcnsjiram  tu(B  vohintafis,  ct  ilhtd 

loco  verendoritni  tnoriim,  ant  alterhis,  ciini  aliqiiibus 

ligatiiris  colligares,  ct  fornicationem  faceres  C2un  aliis 

'  Itinerarium,   Lib.   IV,  p.   267,  in   M.   Schurig,   Midiebra,  p.    107. 
'Burchard,   Bishop  of  Worms  (i2th  century),  De  Poenitenlia.  Decre- 
torum  I,   19. 


384  UNTRODDEN   FIELDS  OF 

muliercults,  vel  alicB  eodem  mstrumento  sive  alio 
tecu7n?  Si  fecisti,  quinque  annos  per  legttimas  ferias 
poeniteas.  Fecisti  quod  qucpdam  mulieres  facere  solenf, 
ut  jam  supradicto  molimtne,  vel  alio  aliquo  niachina- 
menlo,  tu  ipsa  in  te  solani  facer es  for nicationem?  Si 
fecisti  unum  annum  per  legitimas  ferias  poeniteas."  * 

Communication  contrary  to  nature  between  women 
and  beasts  is  not  either  an  invention  of  modern  times. 
With  regard  to  this  Mantegazza  says: 

"  Nor  is  woman  either  spared  the  shame  of  bestiality. 
From  the  most  ancient  times,  as  Plutarch  relates, 
women  gave  themselves  up  to  the  unchaste  vagaries 
of  the  sacred  goat  in  Mendes.  Now,  after  a  long 
series  of  centuries,  it  is  the  dog  that  takes  the  place 
of  the  goat.  More  than  once  do  lovely  women,  in 
the  highest  spheres  of  cultured  Europe,  adore  their 
lap-dogs,  in  a  way  they  would  not  admit  to  a  living 
soul.  Sometimes,  but  more  seldom,  it  is  not  a  lap-dog, 
and  then  the  aberration  is  still  more  base  and  des- 
picable and  instead  of  a  bestial  tribadism  we  have  an 
example  of  bestial  coition,  of  an  infamous  and  shameful 
connection  between  the  loveliest  of  creatures  with  the 
ugliest  and  worst-smelling  of  domestic  animals."  " 

In  such  disgusting  matters  the  ape  plays  an  important 
part.  In  countries  where  the  gorilla  and  Orang-Outang 
live,    numerous  stories   are   related  of  girls  carried  off 

'  Dulaure,  Des  divinite's  generatrices,  Paris,  1885,  p.  96.  A  trans- 
lation of  this  bonne  bouche'e  of  the  good  Bishop  was  made,  but,  on 
reflection,  it  was  decided  not  to  give  a  translation  of  it  in  English.  As 
the  Latin  scholar  will  readily  see,  it  is  grossly  improper,  and  we  marvel- 
at  the  state  of  morals  that  could  allow  German  priests  to  put  sudi 
questions  to  female  penitents,  married  and  unmarried.  No  medical  man 
would  thus  question  a  woman  to-day  without  risking  his  reputation. 
See  infra  Havelock  Ellis  on  the  sexual  teachings  of  the  Catholic  Church. 

'  Mantegazza,  Archiv,  per  Anthrop.,  IX,   1879. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  38S 

by  these  big  beasts,  and  their  sexual  connection  with 
their  victims.  But  in  such  cases  the  connection  was 
always  a  forced  one.  But  we  have  accounts  of  voluntary 
intercourse  between  women  and  apes.  For  instance, 
the  Indians  on  the  banks  of  the  Amazon  river  believe 
that  certain  tailed  men  among  the  Uginas  are  the 
result  of  such  monstrous  marriages  between  Indian 
women  and  Coati  apes.  ^  According  to  Francis  de 
Castelnau  "  such  cohabitation  with  Coati  apes  still  takes 
place  in  those  districts.  He  relates  as  follows: — "As 
I  was  going  down  the  Amazon  river,  I  one  day  saw 
near  to  Fonteboa  a  black  Coati  of  enormous  size;  it 
belonged  to  an  Indian  woman,  to  whom  I  offered  a 
very  considerable  sum  for  this  curious  animal;  but^he 
refused,  at  the  same  time  bursting  out  laughing.  An 
Indian  who  was  in  the  hut  said  to  me:  your  efforts 
are  useless,  that  ape  is  her  husband." 

Influence    of  Race   on   Genital   Perversions.     I 

deem  it  useless  to  extend  my  remarks,  but  I  will  say 
a  few  words  about  the  Sapphic  couples  at  Tahiti, 
formed  of  Vahines  having  the  same  tastes.  This  un- 
natural connection  which  tends  to  increase  at  the 
antipodes,  as,  alas,  it  spreads  and  increases  constantly 
in  old  Europe,  is  it,  as  Moreau  (of  Tours)  asserts,  the 
result  of  a  mental  aberration,  a  plainly  defined  psychical 
malady  ?  Dr.  Moreau  extends  his  theory  to  all  the 
genital  depravities  exhibited  by  women  or  by  men. 
The  subject  is  much  too  large  to  be  treated  here. 
All   that   I    simply  wish  to  show  is  that  the  influence 

'  Bartels,  Die  geschwdmten  Menschen,  Archiv  fiir  Anthropologic, 
Bd.  XV,  p.   52.     Braunschweig,    1883. 

^  £xpe'dition  dans  VAmeriqne  du  Sud,  tome  V,  p.  1 04,  1 06. 
Paris,    1857. 


386  UNTRODDEN    FIELDS   OF 

of  race  appears  to  me  to  be  predominant.  We  have 
seen  the  Asiatic  of  the  Far  East,  a  sodomite  and  a 
pederast  ;  the  African  Negro,  simple  in  his  tastes,  a 
devotee  of  natural  love ;  the  Black,  or  rather  the 
Melanesian  half-breed  of  the  New  Hebrides,  and  his 
cousin  with  a  skin  a  trifle  lighter,  a  pederast  when  he 
cannot  procure  women;  the  Maori,  a  plain  lover  of  the 
natural  Venus,  but  his  Vahine  practising,  since  she 
has  come  into  contact  with  European  civilisation,  the 
vices  of  Lesbos.  In  fact,  to  sum  up  the  whole,  it  is 
the  European  who  fosters  all  kinds  of  genital  depravity. 

Fair«Play  demanded  for  Present  Work.  There 
is,  in  this  subject,  ample  matter  for  a  work  that  I 
shall,  perhaps,  write,  when  I  have  collected  evidence 
enough  to  be  able  to  leave  the  beaten  path,  and 
arrive  at  some  original  conclusions.  ^  I  shall  then 
discuss,  proofs  in  hand,  the  opinions  of  modern  psy- 
chologists, and  seek  to  discover  what  is  the  real 
influence  of  atavism  on  genital  depravities;  which,  until 
proof  to  the  contrary  is  forthcoming,  I  shall,  like 
Moreau  (of  Tours),  regard  as  a  special  form  of  he- 
reditary madness.  1  ask  critics  and  students  in  the 
meanwhile  for  a  fair  hearing.  Attack  my  facts,  for 
it  is  on  them  that  I  rely,  and  not  my  crude  manner 
of  presenting  them.  I  am  no  literary  stylist  of  the 
De  Goncourt  school,  and  besides  let  it  be  borne  in  mind 
that  in  France  greater  liberty  of  pen  is  allowed  on 
anthropological  subjects  than  may  perhaps  be  the  case 
in  England.     My  aim  has  been  to  write  a  work  having 

'  See  "  Editor's  note"  at  commencement  of  this  volume  concerning 
the  new  work  promised  by  the  Doctor,  and  which  will  practically  amount 
to  a  History  of  the  Crimes  and  Follies  of  the  Sexual  Instinct 
in  the  Human  Race, 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  387 

for  object  the  good  of  humanity  and  the  advancement 
of  science.  Already  several  writers  of  great  talent, 
some  of  whom  have  been  referred  to  in  the  foregoing 
pages,  have  ably  dealt  with  certain  questions  raised 
by  me.  Tardieu,  in  his  "  Etudes  Medico-legales  sur 
les  Attentats  aux  Mceurs "  ;  my  esteemed  professor 
Martineau,  in  his  "  Lecons  sur  les  Deformations  vul- 
vaires  et  anales  produites  par  la  Masturbation,  le 
Saphisme,  la  Defloration  et  la  Sodomie "  ;  my  able 
friend  and  confrere.  Chevalier,  in  his  remarkable 
little  "  Manuel  de  I'lnversion  sexuelle  " ;  and  finally  the 
Rev.  Father  Debreyne,  "  pretre  de  la  Grande  Trappe" , 
in  his  painstaking  work  entitled  "  La  Theologie  morale 
et  les  Sciences  medicales";  Dr.  Rosenbaum.  in  the 
"  Geschichte  der  Lustseuche  im  Alterthume  "  ;  Dr.  W. 
Acton,  "  The  Functions  and  Disorders  of  the  Reproduct- 
ive Organs  "  (published  by  Churchill,  London)  ;  John 
A.  Symonds,  in  his  suggestive  little  work,  "  A  Problem 
of  Greek  Ethics";  Moll,  Laupts  and  Raffalovich,  may 
all  be  cited  as  workers  in  France,  England,  Russia  and 
Germany  who  have  put  forward  the  same  ideas  and 
come  to  the  examination,  sometimes  simultaneously,  of 
these  painful  problems,  fearlessly  unmasking  the  evil  in 
the  hope  of  bringing  relief.  Neither  they  nor  myself 
believe  for  a  moment  in  the  possibility  of  destroying 
unnatural  practices,  whether  in  the  individual  or  in 
entire  tribes,  by  the  process  of  violent  uprooting.  This 
can  never  be  done.  Our  only  chance  of  success  lies 
in  the  frank  envisagement  of  a  given  case.  We  hold 
with  the  doctrine  that  John  Morley  puts  into  the  mouth 
of  Chaumette  ^  that  to  explain  is  to  demolish,  to  clearly 
diagnose  is  to  destroy. 

*  In  a  magnificent  passage  in  his  Essay  on   "Robespierre";  See  Cri- 
tical Miscellanies  by  John  Morley,  Lond.   Macmillan,   1888. 


388  UNTRODDEN  FIELDS  OF 

If  sometimes  my  language  seems  crude  and  ill-chosen, 
I  beg  my  readers  to  remember  that  the  subject  dealt 
with  is  ugly  and  ill-favoured,  requiring  a  man  of  con- 
siderable mental  courage  to  approach  it  who  cares 
anything  for  his  own  reputation  and  that  of  his  family. 
The  world  has  learnt  to  judge  harshly  those  who  are 
not  the  favourites  of  the  Gods.  I  am  pleased  to  see 
that  Englishmen  and  Americans  of  great  talent  and 
learning  are  taking  a  lively  interest  in  questions  relating 
to  the  sexual  life.  These  are  the  proper  men  to  handle 
such  subjects.  They  possess  discretion  and  courage, 
which,  combined  with  their  scientific  attainments,  suffi- 
ciently guarantee  the  honourableness  of  their  aims  and 
motives.  One  of  these  gentlemen,  Havelock  Ellis,  a 
name  we  have  more  than  once  had  the  pleasure  to 
quote  in  confirmation  of  our  own  views,  defends  his 
book  on  Sexual  Inversion  in  -a  very  eloquent  passage 
which  we  beg  to  reproduce.  We  cite  this  with  the 
more  satisfaction  because  admirably  expressing  our  own 
feeling : — "When  the  Catholic  Church  was  at  the  summit 
of  its  power  and  influence,  it  fully  realised  the  mag- 
nitude of  sexual  problems,  and  took  an  active  and 
inquiring  interest  in  all  the  details  of  normal  and 
abnormal  sexuality.  Even  to  the  present  time  there 
are  certain  phenomena  of  the  sexual  life  which  have 
scarcely  been  accurately  described  except  in  ancient 
theological  treatises.  As  the  type  of  such  treatises  I 
will  mention  the  great  tome  of  Sanchez,  De  Matrimonio. 
Here  you  will  find  the  whole  sexual  life  of  men  and 
women  analysed  in  its  relationships  to  sin.  Everything 
is  set  forth,  as  clearly  and  as  concisely  as  it  can  be — 
without  morbid  prudery  on  the  one  hand,  or  morbid 
sentimentality  on  the  other — in  the  coldest  scientific 
language ;  the  right  course  of  action  is  pointed  out  for 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  389 

all  the  cases  that  may  occur,  and  we  are  told  what 
is  lawful,  what  a  venial  sin,  what  a  mortal  sin.  Now 
I  do  not  consider  that  sexual  matters  concern  the 
theologian  alone,  and  I  deny  altogether  that  he  is 
competent  to  deal  with  them.  In  his  hands,  also, 
undoubtedly,  they  sometimes  become  prurient,  as  they 
can  scarcely  fail  to  become  on  the  non-natural  and 
unwholesome  basis  of  asceticism,  and  as  they  with 
difficulty  become  in  the  open-air  light  of  science.  But  we 
are  bound  to  recognise  the  thoroughness  with  which  the 
Catholic  theologians  dealt  with  these  matters,  and,  from 
their  own  point  of  view,  indeed,  the  entire  reasonableness ; 
we  are  bound  to  recognise  the  admirable  spirit  in  which, 
successfully  or  not,  they  sought  to  approach  them. 
We  need  to-day  the  same  spirit  and  temper  applied  from 
a  different  standpoint.  These  things  concern  everyone; 
the  study  of  these  things  concerns  the  physiologist,  the 
psychologist,  the  moralist.  We  want  to  get  into  pos- 
session of  the  actual  facts,  and  from  the  investigation 
of  the  facts  we  want  to  ascertain  what  is  normal  and 
what  is  abnormal,  from  the  point  of  view  of  physiology 
and  of  psychology.  We  want  to  know  what  is  natur- 
ally lawful  under  the  various  sexual  chances  that  may 
befall  man,  not  as  the  born  child  of  sin,  but  as  a 
naturally  social  animal,  what  is  a  venial  sin  against 
nature,  what  a  mortal  sin  against  nature.  The  answers 
are  less  easy  to  reach  than  the  theologian's  answers 
generally  were,  but  we  can  at  least  put  ourselves  in 
the  right  attitude ;  we  may  succeed  in  asking  that 
question  which  is  sometimes  even  more  than  the  half 
of  knowledge. "  ^  A  last  objection  may  be  made  against 
the    present   work    on    account   of  the   liberal   way  in 

'  Preface    to  "Sexual    Inversion"  (pages  VIII  and  IX),  by  Havelock 
Ellis,  London,   1897. 


390    UNTRODDEN  FIELDS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

which  reference  has  been  made  to  other  writers.  I 
plead  guilty  to  the  charge.  If  I  have  quoted  freely 
from  other  people  it  has  been  to  show  how  closely 
the  views  of  the  eminent  anthropologists  and  travellers 
of  other  nations  coincide  with  my  own  independent 
studies  and  researches.  In  no  case,  however,  have  I 
made  improper  use  of  these  authorities.  Whenever 
a  work  has  been  cited,  the  fullest  particulars  in  con- 
nection therewith  have  also  been  given,  and  no  unfair 
use  has  been  made  of  the  labours  of  my  predecessors. 
I  ask  only  for  a  fair  hearing.  Where  I  am  in  the 
wrong,  correct  me  by  legitimate  demonstration.  I  am 
ready  to  be  taught.  If  additional  knowledge  may  be 
imparted  to  strengthen  the  views  enunciated,  I  shall 
be  glad  to  receive  information,  regarding  my  work 
as  I  do,  rather  in  the  light  of  an  avant-coureur  to 
some  more  solid  and  possibly  more  scientific  work, 
which  may  be  put  forth  at  a  future  date. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


TO   THE   TWO   VOLUMES   OF 


UNTRODDEN  FIELDS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 


"Sex  contains  all,  bodies,  souls. 
Meanings,  proofs,  purities,  delicacies,  results,  promulgations. 
Songs,    commands,    health,    pride,    the   maternal   mystery,    the   seminal 

[milk, 

All   hopes,    benefactions,    bestowals,    all    the    passions,  loves,  beauties, 

[delights  of  the  earth. 

All  the  governments,  judges,  gods,  follow'd  persons  of  the  earth. 

These    are    contain'd    in    sex    as   parts   of  itself  and   justifications   of 

[itself." 

Walt.  Whitman, 

Leaves  of  Grass. 


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LIST   OF   WORKS   AND  AUTHORS 

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383 


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These  things  concern  everyone ;  the  study  of  these  things  concerns 
the  Physiologirt,  the  Psychologist,  the  Moralist.  We  want  to  get  into 
possession  of  the  actual  facts,  and  from  the  investigation  of  the  facts 
we  want  to  ascertain  what  is  normal  and  what  is  not  normal,  from 
the  point  of  view  of  physiology  and  of  psychology.  We  want  to  know 
what  is  naturally  lawful  under  the  various  sexual  chances  that  may 
befall  man,  not  as  the  "  born  child  of  sin  "   but  as  a  naturally  social  animal. 

Havelock  Eliis. 


™b. 


University  of 
Connecticut 

Libraries 


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